Remarkable Receptions

Terry McMillan's novel was among a chorus of late twentieth-century books that signaled a reawakening in the African American cultural imagination and revealed a strong interest in the representation of Black love, romance, and marriage. Episode by Aneeka Ayanna Henderson. Episode read by Kassandra Timm. **************** Aneeka Ayanna Henderson is a professor of American Studies at Amherst Co...

A short take on how students at a college in Georgia respond to Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal." Episode by Jennifer Colatosti. Read by Kassandra Timm. Jennifer Colatosti is Associate Professor and Interim Associate Chair of English at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College. She writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and since 2018 has co-organized the literary festival Reviva...

Despite revieing positive reviews, why  did Sutton Griggs have some unfavorable feelings about the circumstances surrounding his first book? Episode by John Gruesser. Read by GiGi Monroe. ------------ Senior Research Scholar at Sam Houston State University, John Gruesser is the author of A Literary Life of Sutton E. Griggs: The Man on the Firing Line (Oxford University Press 2022), the editor of A...

Here's a short take on where all those Black Women Writers courses come from.  Episode by Howard Rambsy II. Read by Kassandra Timm. 

Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give  found a raw edge that audiences were keen to address.  Episode written by Ebony Lumumba, Ph. D. -- an associate professor and chair of English at Jackson State University.  She writes, teaches, and thinks most about Black women's resistance and Global South literature. The episode is read by Kassandra Timm. 

College students are often excited to discuss the subtle radicalism of Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.  Episode by Emily VanDette -- Professor of English at SUNY Fredonia.

The 1990s gave way to a vibrant literary outpouring of African American novels that offered myriad representational possibilities freeing readers and writers alike.   Episode by Richard Schur -- Professor of English at Drury University. He is the author of Parodies of Ownership: Hip-Hop Aesthetics and Intellectual Property Law and co-editor (with Lovalerie King) of Justice Unveiled: African Americ...

A graphic novel engages black history and Captain America. Episode by Stephyn Phillips. Read by Kassandra Timm.  

A brief take on a photo titled "The Sisterhood, 1977," which has been a source of inspiration for countless readers and viewers.  Episode by Courtney Thorsson. Read by Kassandra Timm.  Courtney Thorsson , an associate professor in the English Department at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Women’s Work: Nationalism and Contemporary African American Women's Novels and Th...

How an excerpt from an upcoming novel became a popular short story.  Episode by Kenton Rambsy.

Here's why Richard Wright’s autobiography Black Boy, Margaret Walker Alexander’s novel Jubilee and John Oliver Killens’s novel ‘ Sippi are held in high regard by most black folks from Mississippi. Episode by C. Liegh McInnis -- poet, short story writer, author of eight books, former editor of Black Magnolias Literary Journal , and nationally noted Prince scholar. 

Here's how a book can be initially misunderstood and ignored, then gain literary recognition and acclaim, become adopted by the education system and taught broadly, and then become banned.  Episode by Richard Schur.  Read by Kassandra Timm. 

The story of Richard Wright’s Native Son , the first black American best-seller, a novel that is both a shocking page-turner, and a philosophical provocation stirring controversy to this day.  Episode by Joseph G. Ramsey, a professor of English and American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.   Read by Kassandra Timm

Here's how high school students at a school in Maryland responded to Toni Morrison's the Seven Days from Song of Solomon .   Episode by Abbey Morgan. 

Here's the story of how Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man became a defining midcentury Black novel.  Episode by Laura Vrana The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

A brief discussion of the prolific scholarship on African American novels by scholar Trudier Harris. Episode by Howard Rambsy II The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

Paul Beatty’s novel The Sellout became the first novel by an American to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2016. Episode by Cameron Leader-Picone 

College students at one university have expressed a range of feelings about the many new words that they encounter when reading Colson Whitehead’s novel The Intuitionist .  Episode by Howard Rambsy II The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

The multifaceted responses to a novel about a Black woman becoming Episode written by Shanna G. Benjamin  The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

What can we learn about the differences among the 11 novels Toni Morrison published when we consider her word usage? Episode by Howard Rambsy II

The stories behind the reception to Larsen’s novel. Episode written by Donavan Ramon  The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

The multifaceted responses to Walker’s novel Episode written by Kathy Lou Schultz  The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

Key responses to a murder mystery published in the early 20th century Episode written by Alisha Knight  The script was read by Kassandra Timm.

Why did Octavia Butler become so popular on Wikipedia in 2018? Episode written by Howard Rambsy II and Kenton Rambsy 

Men of various backgrounds and identities who are all incarcerated at Parchman met weekly to discuss Jesmyn Ward’s novel. Episode by Ebony Lumumba   The script was read by Kassandra Timm. Ebony Lumumba, Ph. D. is an associate professor and chair of English at Jackson State University.  She writes, teaches, and thinks most about Black women's resistance and Global South literature.