Summary

A broad artistic movement of the 1920s and early '30s that involved literature, the visual arts, and music, the Harlem Renaissance was one of the most productive eras in American literary history. Concentrating on the literary side of the movement—the writers, works, periodicals, editors, publishers, critics, and related topics—Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance provides authoritative coverage and unique insight into the literature of the Harlem Renaissance. An easy-to-use resource for students, general readers, and scholars alike, this volume is rich in material on this important literary movement.

More than 800 concise, A-to-Z entries detail the historical relevance of the subject and explain how the writer, work, or idea helped fundamentally reshape American literature. The author draws on historical studies, biographies, literary criticism, and primary materials, including letters and diaries of such Harlem Renaissance figures as Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, W.E.B. DuBois, and Zora Neale Hurston. The book also includes a chronology, a list of works by Harlem Renaissance writers, 35 black-and-white photographs and illustrations, cross-references, a bibliography, and an index.

Coverage includes:

• Writers, poets, important critics, and others who were linked to the literature that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance
• Important places, historical figures, historical events, and ideas related to the Harlem Literary Renaissance
• Many other significant terms and topics that are important to understanding the movement.

Specifications

Black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Index. Appendix. Bibliography. Cross-references. Chronology.

About the Author(s)

Lois Brown is associate professor of English at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. She holds degrees from Duke University and Boston College. Her teaching, writing, and research focus primarily on topics in African-American studies. In 2000, she published the first modern edition of Susan Paul's pioneering African-American biography, the 1835 Memoir of James Jackson: The Attentive and Obedient Scholar.