Last week, we lost one of the strongest literary voices of our era. Toni Morrison passed away on August 5, following an impressive career that spanned half a century. She is celebrated for her unflinching portrayals of the African-American experience and for works that center the voices of black women. She was also one of the leading figures of the modern Gothic. Continue reading Toni Morrison and the Gothic
Tag: Toni Morrison
African-American Writers of Gothic Literature
February is Black History Month, which we observe in the U.S. by celebrating the lives and achievements of African-Americans throughout the country’s history. In this vein, I wanted to highlight some of the black writers—particularly female writers—who have made significant contributions to the Gothic genre. The Gothic is generally regarded as a Eurocentric genre, created by upper class Englishmen in their extravagant estates and adopted by those who wished to imitate them. But like any good genre, the Gothic is adaptive. Its elements have been co-opted by American writers of urban horror, such as Edgar Allan Poe, and transformed into the unique subgenre of Southern Gothic by the country’s more rural authors. It is no surprise, then, that the black literary community has embraced the Gothic as well, though usually in forms less immediately recognizable than your typical tales of women in nightgowns fleeing from monsters in a castle. Read on for a list of prominent black authors who have incorporated the Gothic into their works. Continue reading African-American Writers of Gothic Literature