Gathering Blossoms Under Fire


Book Description

From National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize­–winning author Alice Walker and edited by critic and writer Valerie Boyd, comes an unprecedented compilation of Walker’s fifty years of journals drawing an intimate portrait of her development over five decades as an artist, human rights and women’s activist, and intellectual. For the first time, the edited journals of Alice Walker are gathered together to reflect the complex, passionate, talented, and acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner of The Color Purple. She intimately explores her thoughts and feeling as a woman, a writer, an African American, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a lover, a sister, a friend, a citizen of the world. In an unvarnished and singular voice, she explores an astonishing array of events: marching in Mississippi with other foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.; her marriage to a Jewish lawyer, defying laws that barred interracial marriage in the 1960s South; an early miscarriage; writing her first novel; the trials and triumphs of the Women’s Movement; erotic encounters and enduring relationships; the ancestral visits that led her to write The Color Purple; winning the Pulizter Prize; being admired and maligned, sometimes in equal measure, for her work and her activism; and burying her mother. A powerful blend of Walker’s personal life with political events, this “revelation, a road map, and a gift to us all” (Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage) offers rare insight into a literary legend.




Purple Rising


Book Description

One of Oprah’s Favorite Things of 2023 Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece The Color Purple—as well as the acclaimed 1985 film from Steven Spielberg, the Tony-winning Broadway musical, and the all-new film adaptation with this gorgeously designed exploration of the novel’s enduring legacy, featuring contributions from Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Colman Domingo, Fantasia Barrino, Danny Glover, and more. Since its publication in 1982, The Color Purple has resonated with generations of readers across the globe. The novel catapulted author Alice Walker to international fame, brought Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg acting acclaim in the 1985 film adaptation, and inspired theatrical productions around the world, including the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. This cultural touchstone—which so profoundly touches on race, family, survival, spirituality, sisterhood, and love in all forms—continues to beget new iterations, most recently a feature film. Now, an in-depth exploration celebrates The Color Purple’s ever-expanding legacy as never before: Purple Rising features oral histories and fresh anecdotes based on more than fifty original interviews, as well as vibrant, never-before-seen images. It reveals the crucial real-life experiences that inspired the novel, and the transcendent humanity of its themes that continue to connect with audiences, each new adaptation speaking to the changing times and cultural contexts. Creators, actors, producers, activists, cultural critics, and well-known fans comment on the power of Walker’s story and how it has affected their lives and artistic choices, including Whoopi Goldberg, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Blitz Bazawule, Jon Batiste, H.E.R., Salamishah Tillet, Ricky Dillard, Gabrielle Union, and many more. An insightful and vivid celebration of an enduring classic, Purple Rising is the ultimate gift for fans of all ages and a true celebration of Black joy, storytelling, and achievement.




The Sisterhood


Book Description

One Sunday afternoon in February 1977, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and several other Black women writers met at June Jordan’s Brooklyn apartment to eat gumbo, drink champagne, and talk about their work. Calling themselves “The Sisterhood,” the group—which also came to include Audre Lorde, Paule Marshall, Margo Jefferson, and others—would get together once a month over the next two years, creating a vital space for Black women to discuss literature and liberation. The Sisterhood tells the story of how this remarkable community transformed American writing and cultural institutions. Drawing on original interviews with Sisterhood members as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and readings of their works, Courtney Thorsson explores the group’s everyday collaboration and profound legacy. The Sisterhood advocated for Black women writers at trade publishers and magazines such as Random House, Ms., and Essence, and eventually in academic departments as well—often in the face of sexist, racist, and homophobic backlash. Thorsson traces the personal, professional, and political ties that brought the group together as well as the reasons for its dissolution. She considers the popular and critical success of Sisterhood members in the 1980s, the uneasy absorption of Black feminism into the academy, and how younger writers built on the foundations the group laid. Highlighting the organizing, networking, and community building that nurtured Black women’s writing, this book demonstrates that The Sisterhood offers an enduring model for Black feminist collaboration.




Atlantis


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Cahiers de la Femme


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Alice Walker


Book Description

Twayne's United States Authors, English Authors, and World Authors Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works. Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an author's work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writer's work. Each volume features: -- A critical, interpretive study and explication of the author's works -- A brief biography of the author -- An accessible chronology outlining the life, the work, and relevant historical context -- Aids for further study: complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index -- A readable style presented in a manageable length




The Westminster


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The Book of Nature Myths


Book Description

A collection of stories from around the world that are meant to explain such things as "Why the cat always falls upon her feet," "How fire was brought to the Indians," and "Why there is a hare in the moon."