Leon Forrest (1937-1997) was among the most innovative and
ambitious African American fiction writers of the twentieth
century. His books-which include novels "There Is a Tree More
Ancient than Eden," "Divine Days," "The Bloodworth Orphans," and
"Two Wings to Veil My Face," and the posthumously published novella
"Meteor in the Madhouse"-fused classical mythology, realism, and
African American history and culture. Largely set in his native
Chicago, Forrest's novels comprise an oeuvre of powerful urban
modernism. "Conversations with Leon Forrest" collects interviews
ranging from 1975 to 1997. Forrest discusses his literary
influences (William Faulkner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Thomas Hardy,
Dylan Thomas), the significance of both Catholicism and Baptist
impulses in his writing, and the intersection between politics and
aesthetics in black literature and culture. Music-jazz, folk,
blues, and gospel-also played an im-portant role in developing
Forrest's aesthetic. Throughout the collection, Forrest's wit,
erudition, and candor are evident. His moral concerns, disciplined
work ethic, and stylis-tic invention are explored. "Conversations
with Leon Forrest" is a valuable introduction to a writer who was
recognized as a literary genius by Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison.
Dana A. Williams is associate professor of African American
literature at Howard University. She is the author of ""In the
Light of Likeness-Transformed": The Literary Art of Leon Forrest"
and, with Sandra Shannon, the editor of "August Wilson and Black
Aesthetics,"
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