Volume 28, Issue 4
FRONT COVER: Stephen Long
James Baldwin
PHOTOGRAPH
On November 30th, 1987, James Baldwin, novelist, poet, playwright and essayist died at his residence in St. Paul de Vence, France. Since1984, Mr. Baldwin had been Five College Professor in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. On December 16th at the University of Massachusetts, the Five College community held a service of respect and appreciation.
Table of Contents
James Baldwin, 1924-1987: A Dedication, by Esther Terry, Chinua Achebe, Michael Thelwell, and John Wideman
The Mojo and the Sayso, Drama by Aishah Rahman
Remarks on Black Theater History, Non-Fiction by Errol Hill
Black Theater and Drama in the 1920s: Years of Growing Pains, Non-Fiction by Nellie McKay
Owen Dodson: Excerpts from a Biography in Progress, Non-Fiction by James V. Hatch
The Dark Vision of Lorraine Hansberry: Excerpts form a Literary Biography, Non-Fiction by Margaret Wilkerson
Legacy; An Unoriginal Poem About Fear, Poetry by Alexandre O’Neill, Translated by Richard Zenith
The Gods, Poetry by Caroline Finkelstein
An Exemplary Exile; Yesterday and Today; A House of Exile, Poetry by Andrew Salkey
Arrivals, Fiction by Tamas Aczel
Pregnant Poets Swim Lake Tarleton, New Hampshire; Letting Go of Land, Poetry by Barbara Ras
Cost Plus, Poetry by Tom Wayman
Interview with Ntozake Shange, Non-Fiction by Brenda Lyons
Past Sorrow; Euthanasia, Poetry by Dara Wier
After Lovemaking, Poetry by Patricia Goedicke
Tree, Poetry by Rebecca Kennedy
In the Kitchen My Potatoes are Polemical, Poetry by Wanda Coleman
Witness: Back in the Old Black Mask, Non-Fiction by William Brandon
Third Person Singular, Poetry by Christopher Bursk
Used Goods, Fiction by Steven Goldleaf
Buick; The Funny Looking Biscuit, Poetry by Marianne Boruch
Isaac, Poetry by Suzanne Gardinier
The Windsurfers, Poetry by Naomi Wallace
Contributors
TAMAS ACZEL, novelist and poet, teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
CHINUA ACHEBE is a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities at the University of Massachusetts.
MARIANNE BORUCH, who teaches at Purdue, has published one volume of poems, View from the Gazebo (Wesleyan Univ. Press), and will have a second volume, Descendant, published by the same Press in 1989.
The writer WILLIAM BRANDON is now working on an opera libretto.
CHRISTOPHER BURSK has published several collections of his poems, the most recent one being Places of Comfort, Places of Justice.
As well as receiving an “Emmy” for her television writing ( “Days of Our Lives” ), WANDA COLEMAN has also received a Guggenheim for her poetry, two volumes of which have been published by Black Sparrow Press and a third expected out in the Spring.
CAROLINE FINKELSTEIN is working on a second poetry manuscript; her first, Windows Facing East, was published in 1986.
SUZANNE GARDINIER teaches creative writing at SUNY, Old Westbury and in the New York City elementary schools; her poems have appeared in Shenandoah, The New Republic and various other magazines.
After living for many years in Mexico, PATRICIA GOEDICKE now teaches at the University of Montana; she has had eight books of poetry published.
Professor of English at LeMoyne College, STEVEN GOLDLEAF has published poetry and non-fiction, as well as stories, in Partisan Review, the Denver Quarterly and other magazines.
JAMES V. HATCH, Professor of English at CCNY, has received an Obie Award for his play, Fly Blackbird, and the American Library Association Award for an outstanding reference work, Black Playwrights, 1823-1977.
John D. Willard Professor of Drama and Oratory at Dartmouth, ERROL HILL has received both Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships; his most recent work is A History of Black Shakespearean Actors.
While pursuing a graduate degree in linguistics at Harvard University, REBECCA KENNEDY has published both poetry and fiction.
BRENDA LYONS is co-author of Brahmins and Bullyboys: G. Frank Radway’s Boston Album.
NELLIE MCKAY teaches Afro-American and American Literature at the University of Wisconsin and has published a study of Jean Toomer and edited a collection of essays about the work of Toni Morrison.
ALEXANDRE O’NEILL has published nine collections of poems; he lives in Lisbon.
AISHAH RAHMAN has had five off-Broadway productions and is the librettist for The Opera of Marie Laveau; she teaches at Nassau Community College.
BARBARA RAS is an editor at the University of California Press.
ANDREW SALKEY teaches writing at Hampshire College.
ESTHER TERRY is Associate Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Massachusetts.
MICHAEL THELWELL is a Professor in the Afro-American Studies Department, University of Massachusetts.
NAOMI WALLACE is temporarily living and working in Amsterdam; her poems have appeared in numerous journals.
Canadian poet TOM WAYMAN‘s most recent collection is The Face of Jack Munro (published in Canada); his first American publication was Introducing Tom Wayman: Selected Poems 1973-1980 (Ontario Review Press).
JOHN WIDEMAN‘s latest novel, Reuben, appeared this fall; he teaches in the English Department at the University of Massachusetts.
DARA WIER‘s new book, The Book of Knowledge, will be published in 1988 by Carnegie-Mellon University.
MARGARET B. WILKERSON teaches at the University of California, Berkeley; she is working on a biography of Lorraine Hansberry.
RICHARD ZENITH‘s poems and translation have been published in Georgia Review, Atlantic Monthly, Partisan Review and many other journals.