James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and social critic.
James Baldwin | |
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![]() Baldwin in 1969 | |
Born | New York City, U.S. | August 2, 1924
Died | December 1, 1987 Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France | (aged 63)
Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery, Westchester County, New York |
Occupation | Novelist, playwright, activist |
Language | English |
Education | DeWitt Clinton High School |
Genre | |
Notable works | |
Years active | 1947–1985 |
Baldwin's essays, such as the collection Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore racial, sexual, and class matters in Western societies, mostly in mid-20th-century America. He looks at how these large things cause problems for, mostly but not only, African American individuals.[1]
Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. He studied at DeWitt Clinton High School and at The New School. Baldwin was gay. He never married and had no children. Baldwin died on December 1, 1987 in Saint-Paul de Vence, France from esophageal cancer, aged 63.[2][3]
Novels
change- 1953. Go Tell It on the Mountain (semi-autobiographical)
- 1956. Giovanni's Room
- 1962. Another Country
- 1968. Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
- 1974. If Beale Street Could Talk
- 1979. Just Above My Head
Essays and short stories
changeMany essays and short stories by Baldwin were published for the first time as part of collections. Others, however, were published individually at first and later included with Baldwin's compilation books. Some essays and stories of Baldwin's that were originally released on their own include:
- 1949. "Everybody's Protest Novel". Partisan Review (June issue)
- 1953. "Stranger in the Village". Harper's Magazine.[4][5]
- 1954. "Gide as Husband and Homosexual". The New Leader.
- 1956. "Faulkner and Desegregation". Partisan Review.
- 1957. "Sonny's Blues". Partisan Review.
- 1957. "Princes and Powers". Encounter.
- 1958. "The Hard Kind of Courage". Harper's Magazine.
- 1959. "The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American". The New York Times Book Review.
- 1959. "Nobody Knows My Name: A Letter from the South". Partisan Review.
- 1960. "Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem". Esquire.
- 1960. "The Precarious Vogue of Ingmar Bergman". Esquire.
- 1961. "A Negro Assays the Negro Mood". New York Times Magazine.
- 1961. "The Survival of Richard Wright". Reporter.
- 1961. "Richard Wright". Encounter.[6]
- 1962. "Letter from a Region of My Mind". The New Yorker.[7]
- 1962. "My Dungeon Shook". The Progressive.[8]
- 1963. "A Talk to Teachers"[9]
- 1967. "Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White". New York Times Magazine.[10]
- 1976. The Devil Finds Work — a book-length essay published by Dial Press.
Collections
changeMany essays and short stories by Baldwin were published for the first time as part of collections, which also included older, individually-published works (such as above) of Baldwin's as well. These collections include:
- 1955. Notes of a Native Son[11]
- 1961. Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son
- 1963. The Fire Next Time
- 1965. Going to Meet the Man
- 1972. No Name in the Street
- 1983. Jimmy's Blues
- 1985. The Evidence of Things Not Seen
- 1985. The Price of the Ticket
- 2010. The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings.[12]
Plays and audio
change- 1954 The Amen Corner (play)
- 1964. Blues for Mister Charlie (play)
- 1990. A Lover's Question (album). Les Disques Du Crépuscule – TWI 928–2.
Works with others
change- 1964. Nothing Personal, with Richard Avedon (photography)
- 1971. A Rap on Race, with Margaret Mead
- 1971. A Passenger from the West, narrative with Baldwin conversations, by Nabile Farès; appended with long-lost interview.
- 1972. One Day When I Was Lost (orig.: A. Haley)
- 1973. A Dialogue, with Nikki Giovanni
- 1976. Little Man Little Man: A Story of Childhood, with Yoran Cazac
- 2004. Native Sons, with Sol Stein
Collections printed after Baldwin's death
change- 1998. Early Novels & Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man, edited by Toni Morrison.[13]
- 1998. Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, The Devil Finds Work, Other Essays, edited by Toni Morrison.[14]
- 2014. Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems.[15]
- 2015. Later Novels: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, If Beale Street Could Talk, Just Above My Head, edited by Darryl Pinckney.[16]
- 2016. Baldwin for Our Times: Writings from James Baldwin for an Age of Sorrow and Struggle, with notes and introduction by Rich Blint.[17]
References
change- ↑ "James Baldwin". Poetry Foundation. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ James Baldwin Biography, accessed December 2, 2010
- ↑ James Baldwin: His Voice Remembered, The New York Times, December 20, 1987
- ↑ Baldwin, James. October 1953. "Stranger in the Village (subscription required)." Harper's Magazine.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. "Stranger in the Village (annotated)", edited by J. R. Garza. Genius.
- ↑ "Richard Wright, tel que je l'ai connu" (French translation). Preuves. February 1961.
- ↑ Baldwin, James (November 17, 1962). "Letter from a Region in My Mind". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ↑ Baldwin, James (December 1, 1962). "A Letter to My Nephew". The Progressive. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. December 21, 1963. "A Talk to Teachers." The Saturday Review.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. April 9, 1967. "Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White." New York Times Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. 1961. Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son. US: Dial Press. ISBN 0-679-74473-8.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. [2010] 2011. The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings, edited by R. Kenan. US: Vintage International. ISBN 978-0307275967. ASIN 0307275965.
- ↑ Morrison, Toni, ed. 1998. Early Novels & Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-883011-51-2.
- ↑ Morrison, Toni, ed.1998. Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, The Devil Finds Work, Other Essays. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-883011-52-9.
- ↑ Baldwin, James. 2014. Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems. US: Beacon Press. ASIN 0807084867.
- ↑ Pinckney, Darryl, ed. 2015. Later Novels: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, If Beale Street Could Talk, Just Above My Head. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-454-2.
- ↑ Blint, Rich, notes and introduction. 2016. Baldwin for Our Times: Writings from James Baldwin for an Age of Sorrow and Struggle.
Other websites
change- James Baldwin on IMDb
- Altman, Elias. "Watered Whiskey: James Baldwin's Uncollected Writings" April 13, 2011. The Nation.
- Jordan Elgrably (Spring 1984). "James Baldwin, The Art of Fiction No. 78". Paris Review. Spring 1984 (91).
- Gwin, Minrose. "Southernspaces.org" March 11, 2008. Southern Spaces
- James Baldwin Photographs and Papers Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine Selected manuscripts, correspondence, and photographic portraits from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
- Comprehensive Resource of James Baldwin Information
- James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket distributed by California Newsreel