Black poets, playwrights and novelists bring their unique perspective into the 21st Century, and a new wave of writers come onto the scene.
1993 - Ernest J. Gaines Completes A Lesson Before Dying
1993 - Rita Dove is Appointed Poet Laureate of the United States
2001 - Cornelius Eady Writes Brutal Imagination
2002 - Suzan-Lori Parks Wins Pulitzer for Topdog/Underdog
2012 - Natasha Trethewey and the New Wave.
Host: Alphonse Keasley. (2014/U.S.)
One of the amazing American sagas is the history of African-American Literature. It is a history of a literature that rose out of slavery, oppression and racism to become one of the great literary traditions in the world. Great African American Authors, an eight part series, brings to light the accomplishments of over 40 brilliant black writers, who against all odds wrote great novels, plays and poetry. These authors include Phillis Wheatley, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, August Wilson, Rita Dove and many more. Their story is the story of America, the story that all Americans should know.
