Literary sisters : Dorothy West and her circle : a biography of the Harlem Renaissance / Verner D. Mitchell and Cynthia Davis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchell, Verner D., 1957-

Contributor:

Davis, Cynthia, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

West, Dorothy, 1907-1998--Criticism and interpretation.

West, Dorothy.

American literature--African American authors--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--Women authors--History and criticism.

African American women--Intellectual life.

African American women.

African American women in literature.

African American arts--New York (State)--New York.

African American arts.

Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem (New York, N.Y.)--Intellectual life--20th century.

Harlem (New York, N.Y.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Harlem Renaissance writer Dorothy West led a charmed life in many respects. Born into a distinguished Boston family, she appeared in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, then lived in the Soviet Union with a group that included Langston Hughes, to whom she proposed marriage. She later became friends with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who encouraged her to finish her second novel, The Wedding, which became the octogenarian author’s first bestseller. Literary Sisters reveals a different side of West’s personal and professional lives—her struggles for recognition outside of the traditional literary establishment, and her collaborations with talented African American women writers, artists, and performers who faced these same problems. West and her “literary sisters”—women like Zora Neale Hurston and West’s cousin, poet Helene Johnson—created an emotional support network that also aided in promoting, publishing, and performing their respective works. Integrating rare photos, letters, and archival materials from West’s life, Literary Sisters is not only a groundbreaking biography of an increasingly important author but also a vivid portrait of a pivotal moment for African American women in the arts.

Contents:

Prologue

"Nothing so broadening as travel": Porgy, 1929

The Benson Family comes to Boston

Pauline Hopkins and African American literature in New England

Boston girlhoods, 1910-1925

The youngest members of the Harlem Renaissance, 1926-1931

Russian interlude, literary salons, and challenge

Epilogue.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-86440-1

0-8135-5213-3

OCLC:

785785256