RITA DI SANTO points out the social experience of exploitation and oppression that inform the popular winners at this year’s festival
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Self-discovery as a black woman
MARJORIE MAYO enjoys an engaging biography of an exceptional African-American novelist, anthropologist and folklorist
CLUES TO THE PAST: Women of an African American family, photographed between 1918 and 1922
[DeGolyer Library - Southern Methodist University/CC]
PETER MASON is tickled by a new book and exhibition that mine the rotten anachronism of the monarchy for laughs
A Nazi zeppelin whodunnit, death amidst detoxification, a twistaholic’s delight, and noir fiction for criminals
STEVE JOHNSON salutes the mellifluous tones and clear-minded political message of a uniquely relevant Birmingham-born singer-songwriter
STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
TOM STONE urges you to catch the last dates of a New York singer/songwriter, never afraid to challenge her audiences musically or politically
JAN WOOLF examines work that aims to give viewers a material experience of the environments in the polar north and Britain equally affected by the climate crisis
Zora Neale Hurston
Cheryl R Hopson, Reaktion, £12.99
THIS is the story of an exceptional African-American woman, a creative writer, an anthropologist and a folklorist, who grew up in the Deep South in the post-reconstruction period.
Although she was born into a virulently violent, white supremacist society, she succeeded in gaining artistic and professional success through sheer determination and talent, becoming a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
Cheryl R Hopson’s biography explores Zora Neale Hurston’s life and works, emphasising her remarkable achievements, whil recognising some of her inherent contradictions.
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Following his death a month ago, DENNIS WALDER assesses the achievement of the playwright who developed his work in the townships
ROGER MCKENZIE recommends an insider's view of the fight for African independence, as experienced by an important and neglected woman
RON JACOBS reviews a new biography of the American poet who revolutionised the perception of black writers in the creative milieu of the day
JOE JACKSON explores how growing up black amid ‘the quiet racism of Scotland’ shaped the art and politics of Maud Sulter