Negro Digest; Volume XVIII, No. 2, December 1968
Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, 1968. Presumed First Edition/First Printing. Wraps. Format is approximately 5.25 inches by 7.5 inches. 100 pages, counting covers. Illustrations. Front cover worn, torn, chipped, and weak at spine. Some page discoloration. Spine torn and chipped. Page 98 has the following NOTE: Because of space limitations, a complete bibliography of Richard Wright's works was omitted. The bibliography will appear in the January issue of Negro Digest. This issue has a focus on Richard Wright: His Life and His Works with articles by Horace Cayton, John A. Williams, Faith Berry, James Emanuel, Cecil Brown and Addison Gayle, Jr. There is also a work of fiction by Richard Wright entitled Bright and Morning Star, published in this issue. The Negro Digest was a magazine for the African-American market. Founded in November 1942 by publisher John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company, Negro Digest was first published locally in Chicago, Illinois. The magazine was similar to the Reader's Digest but aimed to cover positive stories about the African-American community. The Negro Digest ceased publication in 1951 but returned in 1961. In 1970, Negro Digest was renamed Black World and continued to appear until April 1976. Although Negro Digest/Black World gave way to other African-American magazines such as Ebony, Jet and Essence, it significantly impacted the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and early '70s. Negro Digest/Black World constitutes a massive archive. A renewed scholarly interest in these periodicals offers new perspectives and could profoundly change the way we consider the Black Arts Movement and Black activism during this period. Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) was an American author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries suffering discrimination and violence. Literary critics believe his work helped change race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century. In Chicago in 1932, Wright began writing with the Federal Writer's Project and became a member of the American Communist Party. In 1937, he relocated to New York and became the Bureau Chief of the communist publication The Daily Worker. He would write over 200 articles for the publication from 1937 to 1938. He worked on the Federal Writers' Project guidebook to the city, New York Panorama (1938), and wrote the book's essay on Harlem. Through the summer and fall he helped edit a short-lived literary magazine New Challenge. The year was also a landmark for Wright because he met and developed a friendship with writer Ralph Ellison that would last for years. He was awarded the Story magazine first prize of $500 for his short story "Fire and Cloud". After receiving the Story prize in early 1938, Wright hired Paul Reynolds, the well-known agent of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, to represent him. Meanwhile, the Story Press offered the publisher Harper all of Wright's prize-entry stories for a book, and Harper agreed to publish the collection. Wright gained national attention for the collection of four short stories entitled Uncle Tom's Children (1938). He based some stories on lynching in the Deep South. The publication and favorable reception of Uncle Tom's Children improved Wright's status with the Communist party and enabled him to establish a reasonable degree of financial stability. He was appointed to the editorial board of New Masses. Granville Hicks, a prominent literary critic and Communist sympathizer, introduced him at leftist teas in Boston. By May 6, 1938, excellent sales had provided Wright with enough money to move to Harlem, where he began writing the novel Native Son, which was published in 1940. After publication, Native Son was selected by the Book of the Month Club as its first book by an African-American author. It was a daring choice. The lead character, Bigger Thomas, is bound by the limitations that society places on African Americans. Unlike most in this situation, he gains his own agency and self-knowledge only by committing heinous acts. Wright's characterization of Bigger led to him being criticized for his concentration on violence in his works. In the case of Native Son, people complained that he portrayed a black man in ways that seemed to confirm whites' worst fears. The period following publication of Native Son was a busy time for Wright. In July 1940 he went to Chicago to do research for a folk history of blacks to accompany photographs selected by Edwin Rosskam. While in Chicago he visited the American Negro Exposition with Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps and Claude McKay. A collection of short stories, Eight Men, was published posthumously in 1961, shortly after Wright's death. These works dealt primarily with the poverty, anger, and protests of northern and southern urban black Americans. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Horace Cayton, John A. Williams, Faith Berry, James Emanuel, Cecil Brown, Addison Gayle, Jr., Richard Wright, Negro, African-American, Authors, Literature, Retrospective, Native Son, Nihilism, Imagery, Exile
[Book #85422]
Price: $85.00