There has been a dramatic resurgence of interest in early African American writing. Since the accidental rediscovery and republication of Harriet Wilson's Our Nig in 1983, the works of dozens of 19th and early 20th century black writers have been recovered and reprinted. There is now a significant revival of interest in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s; and in the last decade alone, several major assessments of 18th and 19th century African American literature have been published. Early African American literature builds on a strong oral tradition of songs, folktales, and sermons. Slave narratives began to appear during the late 18th and early 19th century, and later writers began to engage a variety of themes in diverse genres.A central objective of this reference book is to provide a wide-ranging introduction to the first 200 years of African American literature. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for 78 black writers active between 1745 and 1945. Among these writers are essayists, novelists, short story writers, poets, playwrights, and autobiographers. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and provides a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, an overview of the author's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.

PrefaceElizabeth Laura Adams by Joyce Russell-RobinsonOctavia Victoria Rogers Albert by Geetha RaviJames Madison Bell by Robert L. MildeGwendolyn Bennett by Gwendolyn S. JonesHenry Walton Bibb by Jesse G. SwanMarita Bonner by Heather E. SpahrArna Bontemps by Jacqueline C. JonesWilliam Stanley Braithwaite by Kirk NussClaude Brown by Robin LucySterling A. Brown by Leela KapaiWilliam Wells Brown by Loretta G. WoodardCharles Waddell Chestnutt by Tracie Church GuzzioAnna Julia Cooper by Vivian M. MayCountee Cullen by Gilbert N.M.O. MorrisLucy A. Delaney by Verner D. MitchellMartin Robinson Delany by Adenike Marie DavidsonFrederick Douglass by Harish ChanderW.E.B. Du. Bois by David L. DudleyPaul Laurence Dunbar-Nelson by Lori Leathers SingleOlaudah Equiano by Gilbert N.M.O MorrisJessie Redmon Fauset by Emmanuel S. NelsonRudolph Fisher by Harish ChanderSarah Lee Brown Fleming by Jacquelyn Y. MclendonMarcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. by Peggy Stevenson Ratliff and Roosevelt Ratliff, Jr.Edythe Mae Gordon by Russell Jay NurickSutton E. Griggs by Roy KayAngelina Weld Grimke by Ynitri JayasunderaCharlotte Lottie Forten Grimke by Karen M. DavisBriton Hammon by Harish ChanderJupiter Hammon by Lonnell JohnsonFrancis Ellen Watkins Harper by Terry NovakJuanita Harrison by Debra J. RosenthalGeorge Wylie Henderson by Peter G. ChristensenPauline Elizabeth Hopkins by Adenike Marie DavidsonGeorge Moses Horton by Lonnell JohnsonJames H. W. Howard by Ronald A. TysonLangston Hughes by Emmanuel S. NelsonZora Neale Hurston by Laurie Champion and Bruce A. GlasrudRebecca Cox Jackson by Joyce L. CherryHarriet Ann Jacobs by Terry NovakAmelia E. Johnson by Elaine SainoGeorgia Douglas Johnson by Gwendolyn S. JonesHelene Johnson by Barbara L.J. GriffinJames Weldon Johnson by Louis Hill PrattElizabeth Keckley by Lynn DominaEmma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins by Julie L. WilliamsNella Larsen by Emmanuel S. NelsonJarena Lee by Riche RichardsonAlain Locke by Emmanuel S. NelsonJohn Marrant by Roland L. Williams, Jr.Claude Mckay by Sarala KrishnamurthyRichard Bruce Nugent by Maxine J. SimpleEliza C. Potter by Nikolas HuotMary Prince by Nanette MortonNancy Prince by Loretta G. WoodardHenrietta Cordelia Ray by Marva O. BanksMary Seacole by Laura L. MoaklerMaria W. Stewart by Barbara RyanMary Church Terrell by Shara McCallumLucy Terry by Paula C. JonesWallace Thurman by Linda M. CarterKatherine Davis Chapman Tilman by Kristen SaundersMelvin Beaunorur Tolson by Pierre-Damien MvuyekureEugene (Jean) Pinchback by Emma Waters DawsonSojourner Truth by Suzanne Hotte MassaDavid Walker by Montye P. FuseEric Walrond by Cora AgatucciBooker T. Washington by Ted OlsonFrank Webb by Rennie SimsonIda B. Wells-Barnett by Loretta WoodardPhyllis Wheatley by Mona M. ChoucairWalter White by Emmanuel S. NelsonJames Monroe Whitfield by James L. HillAlberry Allson Whitman by Bettye J. WilliamsHarriet E. Wilson by Emmanuel S. NelsonRichard Wright by Eberhard AlsenZara Wright by Loretta G. WoodardSelected Bibliography