What effect has the black literary imagination attempted to have on, in Toni Morrison's words, "a race of readers that understands itself to be 'universal' or r

Frank, fearless letters from poets of all colors, genders, classes about the material conditions under which their art is made.

An immensely persuasive work of literary criticism that opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race—and promises to change the way we read American l

The book shows how American racial history and culture have shaped, and been shaped in turn by, American literature.

2013 Honorable Mention, Asian American Studies Association's prize in Literary Studies Part of the American Literatures Initiative Series Why do black character