Archive - History of Black Writing Blog
The Banner image for the HBW Blog, which was published from 2011-2021.
Black Literary History Making
The HBW Blog published regularly for ten years from 2011-2021 at the URL https://projecthbw.ku.edu. During that time, it served as a major forum for the exchange of information and ideas, as well as a robust network for scholars, teachers, and students from different disciplines around the world.
Guest contributors include leading scholars and writers, but most of the posts were conceived of, researched, and written by HBW's staff of undergraduate and graduate students. Its content consists of feature editorials, book reviews, memorials, and coverage of HBW programming. Altogether, 95 writers contributed more than 750 posts.
The HBW Blog Archive is searchable by topic, month and year, and contributor name.
| Blog Post/Link | Date |
|---|---|
| Margaret Walker at 100: The Century that Belonged to Her (July 7, 1915 – July 7, 2015) “I didn’t know what poetry was until I heard her read ‘For My People.’” “Reading Jubilee was a life changing experience for me.” “I will never forget the speech she gave at my high school graduation.” “Hers was the best class I took in college.” .. | |
| In Memoriam: John A. Williams (December 5, 1925 – July 3, 2015) HBW mourns the loss of John A. Williams, who passed away on July 3, 2015. .. | |
| ICYMI: The Last Two Weeks in Black Writing (6/15 – 6/28) – HBW remembered Dr. Jim Miller, a foundational scholar of twentieth-century African American cultural politics. doris davenport contributed a beautiful poem memorializing her friend... | |
| ICYMI: Charleston Edition In the wake of the Charleston Massacre, the HBW Blog offers this compendium of suggested reading, in no particular order. .. | |
| Remembering James A. (Jim) Miller (August 27, 1947-June 19, 2015) The Project on the History of Black Writing is saddened by the untimely loss of James (Jim) Miller. Miller is a graduate of SUNY, and he went on to teach at George Washington University where he was professor of English, American studies, and Director of the Center for the Study of Public History and Culture. Miller’s scholarly pursuits were concerned with twentieth century African American cultural politics. .. | |
| ICYMI: Last Week in Black Writing (6/5 – 6/14) – Sesi Magazine recommends 21 Books Every Black Girl Should Read (plus one extra). .. | |
| ICYMI: The Last Month in Black Writing (5/8 – 6/4) – Black Words Matter: Poems by Baltimore Students took place 2 weeks after the death of Freddie Gray, allowing students space to write about police violence and racism. (The work of four students is shared at the link.) .. | |
| ICYMI: This Week in Black Writing (5/1 – 5/7) – Portia Owusu added a young scholar’s perspective to the chorus of voices weighing in on Toni Morrison’s new novel, God Help the Child, which debuted at #3 on NPR’s Bestsellers List for hardcover fiction. .. | |
| Project on the Future of Black Writing: Crystal Bradshaw Editor’s Note: One of HBW’s goals is to promote research and creative work by new generations of scholars and writers. To that end, the HBW Blog will begin featuring short profiles of young creative writers and scholars for a feature we’ve named the Project on the Future of Black Writing. First up: KU sophomore Crystal Bradshaw, a creative writer and aspiring publisher who also heads up HBW Communications. .. | |
| In Toni Morrison’s Latest Novel, Black (Children’s) Lives Matter In her review of Toni Morrison’s eighth novel, Love, English writer Hilary Mantel asserts: “when Morrison writes at her best, you can feel the workings of history through her prose.” An accurate description, if ever there was one, for the novelist who is often described as the voice of America’s conscience... |