LibGuides: African American Women Writers: Anthologies and Collections

Anthologies

Before Harlem: an anthology of African American literature from the long nineteenth century by Ajuan Maria Mance
Brings together a wealth of autobiographical writings, fiction, poetry, speeches, sermons, essays, and journalism that better portrays the intellectual and cultural debates, social and political struggles, and community publications and institutions that nurtured black writers from the early 1800s to the eve of the Harlem Renaissance. This selection of 143 works by 65 writers presents an in-depth picture of the literary, aesthetic, and intellectual landscape of nineteenth-century African America.
Black girl magic by Jamila Woods (Editor); Mahogany l. Browne (Editor); Idrissa Simmonds (Editor) "[The BreakBeat Poets is] one of the most diverse and important poetry anthologies of the last 25 years."--Latino Rebels Black Girl Magic continues and deepens the work of the first BreakBeat Poets anthology by focusing on some of the most exciting Black women writing today. This anthology breaks up the myth of hip-hop as a boys' club, and asserts the truth that the cypher is a feminine form. Poet and vocalist Jamila Woods was raised in Chicago, and graduated from Brown University, where she earned a BA in Africana Studies and Theatre & Performance Studies. Influenced by Lucille Clifton and Gwendolyn Brooks, much of her writing explores blackness, womanhood, and the city of Chicago. Mahogany L. Browne is a Cave Canem and Poets House alumna and the author of several books includingSmudge andRedbone. She directs the poetry program of the Nuyorican Poets Café. Idrissa Simmonds is a fiction writer and poet. Her work has appeared inBlack Renaissance Noire, The Caribbean Writer, Fourteen Hills Press, and elsewhere. She is the 2014 winner of theCrab Creek Review poetry contest, and a New York Foundation for the Arts and Commonwealth Short Story Award Finalist.
Black Sister: poetry by black American women, 1746-1980 by Erlene Stetson (Editor)
Introductory essays are followed by selections from the works of 58 African-American women poets dating back to the eighteenth century.
Nine Black Women : an anthology of nineteenth-century writers from the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean by Moira Ferguson
The Poetry of Black America by Arnold Adoff (Editor); Gwendolyn Brooks (Introduction by)
In 600 poems by 145 authors, this book gives a cross-section of black American poetry writing in the twentieth century.
The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers by Hollis Robbins (Editor); Henry Louis Gates (Editor, Introduction by)
Work from forty-nine writers arranged into sections of memoir, poetry and essays on feminism, education and the legacy of black women writers. Many of these pieces engage with social movements like abolition, women's suffrage, temperance and civil rights, but the thematic center is black women's intellect and personal ambition.
Shadowed Dreams: women's poetry of the Harlem Renaissance by Maureen Honey (Editor)
This revised and expanded version of the collection contains twice the number of poems found in the original, many of them never before reprinted, and adds eighteen new female voices from the Harlem Renaissance, once again striking new ground in African American literary history. Also new to this edition are nine period illustrations and updated biographical introductions for each poet.
Tell It to Us Easy and Other Stories: a complete short fiction anthology of African American women writers in Opportunity magazine, (1923-1948) by Judith Musser (Editor)
All of the short stories published in Opportunity by African American women during the magazine's 25 years of publication. It includes works by both well-known authors (Zora Neale Hurston, Marita Bonner) and more obscure writers. Also includes an introduction which contextualizes the short stories historically in light of the overall development of African American writing.
The Vintage Book of African American Poetry by Michael S. Harper (Editor); Anthony Walton (Editor)
In The Vintage Book of African American Poetry, editors Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton present the definitive collection of black verse in the United States--200 years of vision, struggle, power, beauty, and triumph from 52 outstanding poets. From the neoclassical stylings of slave-born Phillis Wheatley to the wistful lyricism of Paul Lawrence Dunbar . . . the rigorous wisdom of Gwendolyn Brooks...the chiseled modernism of Robert Hayden...the extraordinary prosody of Sterling A. Brown...the breathtaking, expansive narratives of Rita Dove...the plaintive rhapsodies of an imprisoned Elderidge Knight . . . The postmodern artistry of Yusef Komunyaka.