Thirty years after its original publication, this newly imagined edition brings the work and musings of fifteen Black literary luminaries in conversation with a new generation of writers and readers. The first edition of I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like, published in 1994, remains an essential text for readers of Black feminist literature in all genres. Featuring interviews with and excerpts by writers like Rita Dove, Pearl Cleage, Barbara Neely, June Jordan, and others, this indispensable work speaks to the intersections of politics and art-making along the lines of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Now, writer and cultural critic Rebecca Carroll presents the original conversations alongside personalized introductions by some of the brightest voices in today’s literary world, including Donika Kelly, Safiya Sinclair, Diamond Sharp, and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, among others. This new edition also includes an introductory poem by Morgan Parker, a foreword by Salamishah Tillet, and a new author’s note. The new contributors carry the torch of the original interviewees’ lives and words with heart, rigor, gratitude, and radical imagination, illuminating how these conversations are about more than just writing—they are about life, relationships, joy, gratitude, wellness, and self-preservation. I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like is a book unbound by time, lifting up a chorus of past and present voices. Paying homage to a historic lineage of Black feminist writers and their impact on our current literary landscape, it is a book by and for the storytellers, the poets, the playwrights, the dreamers, and all readers interested in what it means to make art within and from marginalized spaces.

Discover the inspiring strength of today's black women writers in a telling selection of interviews and excerpted works from 16 of the best-known and most promising talents. A collection that speaks powerfully to the shared ideas and conflicts facing all women of color.

American women writers have long been creating an extraordinarily diverse and vital body of fiction, particularly in the decades since World War II. Recent authors have benefited from the struggles of their predecessors, who broke through barriers that denied women opportunities for self-expression. This reference highlights American women writers who continue to build upon the formerly male-dominated canon. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for more than 60 American women writers of diverse ethnicity who wrote or published their most significant fiction after World War II. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes:^L^DBLA brief biography^L^DBLA discussion of major works and themes^^DBLA survey of the writer's critical reception^L^DBLA bibliography of primary and secondary sources

In the twenty-fifth century, what used to be called the Midwestern section of the United States of America, all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, has become desert. The remains of Midwest City, Oklahoma, now known as Haze Territory, is a barren red clay desert populated by only a few family councils. Fourteen-year-old Kyle Haze must help his family defend the area, just as his ancestors did over many previous generations. Means of monetary exchange, transportation, community, and industry are long gone since the only active government is that of local communities. Fighting among area clans is common when survival is at stake and resources are scarce. Those remaining in the harsh environment must migrate, mutate, adapt, or die. After the Chastain clan attacks his father, Kyle and his kin are driven from the only home they've ever known. They set out to renew their lives up north, a land foreign to them, while attempting to keep their family intact. Kyle must constantly lead them in and out of life-threatening circumstances, bringing out the best and worst of humanity in order to survive another day in their primitive world and avenge the damage done to his family by other clans.

A stirring and powerful memoir from black cultural critic Rebecca Carroll recounting her painful struggle to overcome a completely white childhood in order to forge her identity as a black woman in America. Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her early childhood was loving and idyllic—and yet she couldn’t articulate the deep sense of isolation she increasingly felt as she grew older. Everything changed when she met her birth mother, a young white woman, who consistently undermined Carroll’s sense of her blackness and self-esteem. Carroll’s childhood became harrowing, and her memoir explores the tension between the aching desire for her birth mother’s acceptance, the loyalty she feels toward her adoptive parents, and the search for her racial identity. As an adult, Carroll forged a path from city to city, struggling along the way with difficult boyfriends, depression, eating disorders, and excessive drinking. Ultimately, through the support of her chosen black family, she was able to heal. Intimate and illuminating, Surviving the White Gaze is a timely examination of racism and racial identity in America today, and an extraordinarily moving portrait of resilience.

This collection of essays examines popular writer Pearl Cleage's work, including her novels, short stories and plays. It is the first book-length consideration of a writer and activist whose bold perspectives on social justice, race and gender have been influential for several decades. While academically critical, the essays mirror Cleage's own philosophical commitment to theoretical transparency and translation. The book includes an in-depth interview with the author and a foreword by former Cleage student and acclaimed novelist Tayari Jones in addition to essays from contributors representing an interdisciplinary cross-section of academic fields.

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Longlist Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel Indie Next List Pick—American Booksellers Association Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction Foreword INDIES Silver Book of the Year—LGBTQ+ Fiction Book of the Year: International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Book Southern Literary Review Read of the Month Southern Literary Review’s 2023 TOP TEN BOOKS A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Red Clay Suzie go to support the important work of The Trevor Project and the Born This Way Foundation. A novel inspired by true events The coming-of-age story of Philbet, gay and living with a disability, battles bullying, ignorance, and disdain as he makes his way in life as an outsider in the Deep South—before finding acceptance in unlikely places. Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his misshapen chest skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes at home; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction. Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution from beyond the grave.