eBook

Literary Sisters

Davis, Cynthia, Mitchell, Verner D

2011,2020

Overview

Harlem Renaissance writer Dorothy West led a charmed life in many respects. Born into a distinguished Boston family, she appeared in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, then lived in the Soviet Union with a group that included Langston Hughes, to whom she proposed marriage. She later became friends with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who encouraged her to finish her second novel,The Wedding, which became the octogenarian author's first bestseller. Literary Sistersreveals a different side of West's personal and professional lives-her struggles for recognition outside of the traditional literary establishment, and her collaborations with talented African American women writers, artists, and performers who faced these same problems. West and her \"literary sisters\"-women like Zora Neale Hurston and West's cousin, poet Helene Johnson-created an emotional support network that also aided in promoting, publishing, and performing their respective works. Integrating rare photos, letters, and archival materials from West's life,Literary Sistersis not only a groundbreaking biography of an increasingly important author but also a vivid portrait of a pivotal moment for African American women in the arts.

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Subject: 20th century / 20th century literature / African American / African American arts / African American authors / African American literature / African American women / African American women in literature / african-american women writers / American / American literature / archives / artist / artistic community / arts / Benson family / biography / BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / black / black artists / black arts movement / black literary culture / black literature / black performers / black women / black writers / Boston / Criticism and interpretation / Dorothy West / Gershwin / Harlem / Harlem (New York, N.Y.) / Harlem Renaissance / harlem renaissance literature / Helene Johnson / History / History and criticism / Intellectual life / jacqueline kennedy onassis / Langston Hughes / Language & Literature / letters / Literary / LITERARY CRITICISM / LITERARY CRITICISM / General / literary history / literary salon / Literature / New England / New York / New York (State) / octogenarian / Onassis / Pauline Hopkins / perform / poet / poetry and performance / Porgy / Porgy and Bess / Russian / russian literary influence / SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General / Sociology / Soviet / Soviet Union / soviet union connections / talent / tradition / West, Dorothy / West, Dorothy, 1907–1998 / women / Women authors / women writers / Zora Hurston
• ISBN: 9780813552132, 0813552133, 9780813551456, 0813551455