Toni Morrison was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. They are discussing the theories, discoveries and research behind their awards, and the value of … Among her best-known novels are 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Song of Solomon,' 'Beloved' and 'A Mercy.' In 1986 she published Thomas and Beulah, a semi-autobiographical look at the lives of her grandparents that won the poetry Pulitzer Prize the following year. Amiri Baraka is an African American poet, activist and scholar. ', W.E.B. Dove has served as an editor as well, helming The Best American Poetry 2000 and 2011’s Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry; the latter was released the same year as Dove’s critically acclaimed book-length poem Sonatta Mulattica, about biracial classical violinist George Polgreen Bridgetower. ', African American playwright August Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his play 'Fences' and earned a second Pulitzer Prize for 'The Piano Lesson. Among her best-known novels are 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Song of Solomon,' 'Beloved' and 'A Mercy. ', Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African American novelist and poet most famous for authoring 'The Color Purple.'. Dove is known not only for the layered eloquence of her language and ideas but also for portraying portions of the Black experience in America, both on a personal and collective front. ', Robert Hayden was an African American poet and professor who is best known as the author of poems, including “Those Winter Sundays” and “The Middle Passage.”, Writer Rita Dove was the youngest person and the first African American to be appointed Poet Laureate Consultant by the Library of Congress. Some lists count more than others. An algorithm is used to create a master list based on how many lists a particular book appears on. He was an influential Black nationalist and later became a Marxist. Poetry.com is a huge collection of poems from famous and amateur poets from around the world — collaboratively published by a community of authors and contributing editors. Born in Akron, Ohio on August 28, 1952, Rita Dove developed a love for learning and literature at an early age in a household that encouraged reading. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. The 2020 Nobel Laureates talk about their research and careers in a unique roundtable discussion, 'Nobel Minds', moderated by Cecilia Gralde. Navigate through our poetry database by subjects, alphabetically or simply search by keywords. She has also written the play The Darker Face of the Earth (1994), and collaborated as a lyricist with a variety of composers. In May of 1993, Dove was named the poet laureate of the United States, a post held previously by bards like Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Brodsky. She also authored novels, essays and poems. Rita Coolidge is an American two-time Grammy Award-winning singer best known for her hits in the 1970s, including the album 'Anytime...Anywhere.'. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe.The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the Grampus.Various adventures and misadventures befall Pym, including shipwreck, mutiny, and cannibalism, before he is saved by the crew of the … This list is generated from 129 "best of" book lists from a variety of great sources. Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks and others have earned Pulitzer Prizes, NAACP awards and Nobel Prizes, among other honors. Hands down Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” (1987). © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. —Ray Bradbury Playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry wrote 'A Raisin in the Sun' and was the first Black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award. It is often used synonymously with hyperbaton, but can also specifically refer to a specific type of inversion (adjective after the noun).Keep reading to find famous examples of anastrophe in literature and speech. She studied in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, later teaching creative writing at Arizona State University. Toni Morrison was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, poet and award-winning author known for her acclaimed 1969 memoir, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' and her numerous poetry and essay collections. ', Alex Haley was a writer whose works of historical fiction and reportage depicted generations of African American lives. After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773. He co-founded the NAACP and wrote 'The Souls of Black Folk.'. Robert Hayden was an African American poet and professor who is best known as the author of poems, including “Those Winter Sundays” and “The Middle Passage.”. https://www.biography.com/writer/rita-dove. Ralph Ellison was a 20th century African American writer and scholar best known for his renowned, award-winning novel 'Invisible Man. (African American writers Robert Hayden and Gwendolyn Brooks were both Library of Congress Consultants in Poetry, which was replaced by the Poet Laureate Consultant title in 1985.). He is widely known for 'Roots' and 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X. ', Alex Haley was a writer whose works of historical fiction and reportage depicted generations of African American lives. African American writers and poets have fearlessly examined cultural stigmas, provided intimate life details and created remarkable literary works. She subsequently studied abroad in Germany before returning to the states and earning her M.F.A. ', Writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance and author of the masterwork 'Their Eyes Were Watching God. Du Bois was an influential African American rights activist during the early 20th century. from the University of Iowa. Among her best-known novels are 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Song of Solomon,' 'Beloved' and 'A Mercy. She met fellow writer Fred Viebahn, also of Germany, in the mid-1970s while he was studying at the Univ. Here are some examples of allusion in well-known literary works: Example 1: The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison) Her novels include 'Patternmaster,' 'Kindred,' 'Dawn' and 'Parable of the Sower. We strive for accuracy and fairness. ', Author Octavia E. Butler is known for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. READ MORE: Maya Angelou and 9 Other Best-Selling Black Authors. ', James Baldwin was an essayist, playwright, novelist and voice of the American civil rights movement known for works including 'Notes of a Native Son,' 'The Fire Next Time' and 'Go Tell It on the Mountain. She was an exceptional student and was invited to the White House as a Presidential Scholar out of high school. Other books include Grace Notes (1989) and Mother Love (1995), while her 1999 work On the Bus With Rosa Parks was hailed as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. She has also won the Pulitzer for her book 'Thomas and Beulah.'. This is effective in developing characters. of Iowa. Claude McKay was a Jamaican poet best known for his novels and poems, including "If We Must Die," which contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. American film actress Rita Hayworth is best known for her stunning explosive sexual charisma on screen in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Having that in mind, we've rounded up the first lines of some of the world's most famous books, and they stand as excellent examples of how a short sentence or two can set the tone for an entire story - and define its legacy for decades to come. African American writer Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, 1931–2019) was an essayist, editor, teacher, and professor emeritus at Princeton University. She was honored as a Presidential Scholar, being ranked as one of the top 100 high school students in the nation, and as a National Merit Scholar attended Ohio’s Miami University, graduating in 1973 summa cum laude. In addition to her poetry, Dove has penned prose, as seen with the short-story collection Fifth Sunday (1985), the novel Through the Ivory Gate (1992) and the essay collection The Poet’s World (1995). The PEGOT winner broke new ground for Latinos in entertainment. As the literary editor for 'The Crisis,' Jessie Fauset supported many new voices during the Harlem Renaissance. African American playwright August Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his play 'Fences' and earned a second Pulitzer Prize for 'The Piano Lesson. Written to honor the memory of African American slaves brought over during the slave trade, Toni Morrison's Beloved is one of the most recognizable and influential texts in modern literature. The poems of Nikki Giovanni helped to define the African American voice of the 1960s, '70s and beyond.