STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER
STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER is the author of Daily Cornbread: 365 Secrets for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit; Seven Soulful Secrets for Finding Your Purpose & Minding Your Mission; and Song for My Father: Memoir of an All-American Family. Formerly the editor of Essence, editor-in-chief of Essence.com, and founding editor-in-chief of Heart & Soul, she started her magazine career at Glamour. For more information, see stephaniestokesoliver.com.
BLACK INK
Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing
Atria / 37 INK – January 30, 2018
Spanning over 250 years of history, Black Ink traces black literature in America from Frederick Douglass to Ta-Nehisi Coates in this masterful collection of twenty-five illustrious and moving essays on the power of the written word.
Throughout American history black people are the only group of people to have been forbidden by law to learn to read. This unique collection seeks to shed light on that injustice and subjugation, as well as the hard-won literary progress made, putting some of America’s most cherished voices in a conversation in one magnificent volume that presents reading as an act of resistance.
Organized into three sections, the Peril, the Power, and Pleasure, and with an array of contributors both classic and contemporary, Black Ink presents the brilliant diversity of black thought in America while solidifying the importance of these writers within the greater context of the American literary tradition. At times haunting and other times profoundly humorous, this unprecedented anthology guides you through the remarkable experiences of some of America’s greatest writers and their lifelong pursuits of literacy and literature.
The foreword was written by Nikki Giovanni. Contributors include: Frederick Douglass, Solomon Northup, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., Toni Morrison, Walter Dean Myers, Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Ture], Alice Walker, Jamaica Kincaid, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Terry McMillan, Junot Diaz, Edwidge Danticat, Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Colson Whitehead.
Praise for BLACK INK
“An informative overview of African-American literature. Revelatory. . . moving. . . impressive.”―Kirkus Reviews
“Black writers have used writing and reading to create, find and sometimes save their lives. Stephanie Stokes Oliver invites the reader into a black magic circle of incendiary, replenishing and inspiring ideas, memories and meditations on the power of literacy and imagination by the writers we treasure. It was a pleasure to re-read established classics and discover new classic arguments for the power of the written and read word.”―Marita Golden, award-winning author of Living Out Loud: A Writer’s Journey
“This electric and electrifying collection of voices serves to open a much needed window onto the freedom struggle of black literature. It’s a marvel, and a genuine gift for readers everywhere.”―Wil Haygood, author of The Butler: A Witness to History
“An essential collection for readers and students of black history and literature.“―Library Journal, starred review
“An expertly selected and edited sampler that features 25 of the best black writers to work in the U.S…Black Ink is the sort of book that opens doors to other books.“―Shelf Awareness, starred review