Preface
List of Authors by Genre
Chronological List of Authors
Albert, Octavia Victoria Rogers
Allen, Clarissa Minnie Thompson
Allen, Sarah A.
Anderson, Mignon Holland
Angelou, Maya
Ansa, Tina McElroy
Austin, Doris Jean
Baker, Nikki
Bambara, Toni Cade
Bennett, Gwendolyn
Bonner, Marita
Boyd, Candy Dawson
Braxton, Joanne
Brooks, Gwendolyn
Brown, Linda Beatrice
Burton, Annie
Bush-Banks, Olivia Ward
Butler, Octavia
Caines, Jeannette Franklin
Campbell, Bebe Moore
Chase-Riboud, Barbara
Childress, Alice
Christian, Barbara T.
Cleage, Pearl T.
Cliff, Michelle
Clifton, Lucille
Coleman, Wanda
Collier, Eugenia W.
Collins, Kathleen Conwell
Cooper, Anna Julia Hayward
Cooper, J. California
Cortez, Jayne
Danner, Margaret Esse
Danticat, Edwidge
Davenport, Doris
Davis, Angela Y.
Delaney, Lucy
Derricote, Toi(nette) Marie
De Veaux, Alexis
Dixon, Edwina Streeter
Dove, Rita
Drumgoold, Kate
Du Bois, Shirley Graham
Dunbar-Nelson, Alice
Edwards-Yearwood, Grace
Elaw, Zilpha
Evans, Mari
Fabio, Sarah Webster
Fauset, Jessie Redmon
Ferrell, Carolyn
Fields, Julia
Foote, Julia A. J.
Gaines, Patrice
Gibson, Patricia Joann
Gilbert, Mercedes
Giovanni, Nikki
Golden, Marita
Gomez, Jewelle
Greenfield, Eloise
Grimk, Angelina Weld
Guy, Rosa
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly
Hackley, Madame Emma Azalia Smith
Hamilton, Virginia
Hansberry, Lorraine
Hansen, Joyce
Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins
Harrison, Juanita
Henderson-Holmes, Safiya
Herron, Carolivia
Hodges, Frenchy Jolene
Hooks, Bell
Hopkins, Pauline Elizabeth
Hurston, Zora Neale
Jackson, Angela
Jackson, Elaine
Jackson, Mae
Jackson, Mattie Jane
Jacobs, Harriet Ann
Johnson, Amelia E.
Johnson, Georgia Douglas
Johnson, Helen
Jones, Gayl
Jordan, June
Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs
Kennedy, Adrienne
Kincaid, Jamaica
Lane, Pinkie Gordon
Larsen, Nella
Lattany, Kristin Hunter
Lee, Andrea
Lee, Helen Elaine
Lee, Jarena
Lorde, Audra Geraldine
Madgett, Naomi Long
Marshall, Paule
Mathis, Sharon Bell
Matthews, Victoria Earle
McElroy, Colleen J.
McKissack, Patricia
Meriwether, Louise
Miller, May
Millican, Arthenia J. Bates
Monroe, Mary
Moody, Anne
Moore, Opal J.
Morrison, Toni
Mossell, Gertrude Bustill
Mullen, Harryette
Murphy, Beatrice
Murray, Pauli
Naylor, Gloria
Neely, Barbara
Oliver, Diane
Osbey, Brenda Marie
Parker, Pat
Parks, Suzan-Lori
Plato, Ann
Porter, Connie
Potter, Eliza
Prince, Mary
Prince, Nancy
Rahman, Aishah
Randall, Alice
Ray, Henrietta Cordelia
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Rodgers, Carolyn Marie
Saloy, Mona Lisa
Sanchez, Sonia
Sanders, Dori
Seacole, Mary
Shaik, Fatima
Shange, Ntozake
Shockley, Ann Allen
Smith, Amanda Berry
Southerland, Ellease
Stewart, Maria W.
Summers, Barbara
Tarry, Ellen
Tate, Claudia
Taylor, Mildred D.
Taylor, Susie King
Teasley, Lisa
Terry, Lucy
Thomas, Joyce Carol
Thomas, Era Bell
Tillman, Katherine Davis Chapman
Todd, Ruth D.
Vroman, Mary Elizabeth
Wade-Gayles, Gloria
Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Walker, Alice
Walker, Margaret
Walter, Mildred Pitts
Wells-Barnett, Ida B.
West, Dorothy
Wheatley, Phyllis
White, Paulette Childress
Wilkinson, Brenda
Williams, Fannie Barrier
Williams, Sherley Anne
Wilson, Harriet E.
Wright, Sarah Elizabeth
Youngblood, Shay
Appendix: List of Author Awards
General Bibliography
Index
About the Editor and the Contributors
Reviews
"Greenwood's new 2-volume set covers over 150 African American women novelists, poets, essayists, dramatists, and literary critics in over 1,000 pages of text. Entries are in alphabetical order, and range from just a few pages for lesser-known writers to ten pages or so for more well-known personages such as Alice Walker or Toni Morrison. Each author entry contains subsections titled Biographical Narrative, Major Works, Critical Reception, and Bibliography (which in turn offers Works by and Studies of listings)....[t]his is a very good resource for users at many levels--straightforward enough to be used by undergraduates and even high school students, but detailed and deep enough to be useful to graduate and faculty researchers as well. Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."—Choice
"Each A-to-Z entry, which spans 750 to 5000 words, profiles the writer, discusses major works, surveys critical reception, and includes a bibliography consisting of a list of the authors works and a list of studies of those works. The writers featured range from the established and popular to the overlooked or newly emerging and include Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, and Jamaica Kincaid. Appendixes contain a list of major literary awards, alphabetical and chronological lists of authors, and, at the works close, a selected general bibliography and an index. They also catalog authors according to their genrese.g., autobiography, drama, essay, fiction, poetry, cultural/literary theory, and children/YA. Other works treating this same subject are of a lesser status than Pages title, impressive for its critical and scholarly representation of a growing and important group. Fit for public, community college, and university libraries"—Library Journal
"To the busy scholar in literature today all encyclopedias are helpful in providing doorways to authors of all kinds. This one, however, is especially welcome because though it is not the first on the subject it is the fullest....The two volumes are a necessity on the shelves of all people interested in literature or black culture."—Journal of American Cultures
"This wide-ranging set provides both biographical and critical information in an accessible set. Covering the 18th through 21st centuries, it includes novelists, playwrights, poets, essayists, and authors of children's works. Each entry is individually penned and has a section on the life of the writer, her major works, critical responses to them, and a bibliography of both primary and secondary sources....[a] welcome addition for students and others interested in this gifted group."—School Library Journal
"Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers has entries on 168 African American (and some Caribbean) female authors who published works from 1746 to 2006. The coverage of literary genres is broad and makes this an important contribution to the field....The intended audience includes advanced high-school through undergraduate students as well as graduate students and researchers in the preliminary research stages. Many of the authors are well known (for example, Maya Angelou), while others are obscure writers (for example, Susie King Taylor) who the editor believes should be brought to the attention of students and scholars. A table of contents and two lists of authors, the first organized by genre and the second by date, precede the alphabetic entries. Each entry includes sections for Biographical Narrative, Major Works, Critical Reception, and Bibliography (subdivided into Works and Studies of Works)....[h]ighly recommended for public, high-school, and academic libraries."—Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"The range of authors represented in this encyclopedia is what ensures this work stands out, making it a significant contribution to the literature about African American writers. Aimed at advanced school level upward it would be a useful addition to school and public libraries."—Reference Reviews
"Useful and certain to excite interest, this reference contains entries on 168 writers of African-American descent writing in all forms, including autobiography, poetry, children's literature, and criticism. The entries, which are written to be accessible to the advanced high school student and higher, give a biography of the writer, describe the major works and their reception. Each entry concludes with an exhaustive bibliography of the writer's works and secondary sources. An appendix provides a full list of literary awards and their recipients, as well as a bibliography of further sources."—Reference & Research Book News
"Such a pivotal examination of a wide-raning list of African-American women writers is not lost on a more popular audience. Easy to navigate and written in layman's terms, each biographical entry is organized into five distinct sections: headnotes, biographical narrative, list of major works, critical reception, and a selected bibliography for further study... Suitable for high school students, college and university undergraduate and graduate students, and literary researchers, the two-volume work merits inclusion in both libraries and personal collections"—MultiCultural Review