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Paul Laurence Dunbar: Poet Laureate of the Negro Race (1914) is a
pamphlet on American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published nearly a
decade after Dunbar's untimely death, Paul Laurence Dunbar: Poet
Laureate of the Negro Race contains three essays on his life, his
legacy, and his importance to American literature. Born in Dayton,
Ohio, Dunbar was the son of parents who were emancipated from
slavery in Kentucky during the American Civil War. In 1893, he
published Oak and Ivy, a debut collection of poetry blending
traditional verse and poems written in dialect. Over the next
decade, Dunbar wrote ten more books of poetry, four collections of
short stories, four novels, a musical, and a play. In his brief
career, Dunbar became a respected advocate for civil rights,
participating in meetings and helping to found the American Negro
Academy. His lyrics for In Dahomey (1903) formed the centerpiece to
the first musical written and performed by African Americans on
Broadway, and many of his essays and poems appeared in the nation's
leading publications, including Harper's Weekly and the Saturday
Evening Post. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1900, however,
Dunbar's health steadily declined in his final years, leading to
his death at the age of thirty-three while at the height of his
career. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, in her essay, reflects on the man her
husband was, a "true poet" who "reached out and groped for the
bigness of the out-of-doors, divining all that he was afterwards to
see." In his piece, classical scholar William S. Scarborough argues
for Dunbar's importance to African American history as "the first
among ten million," as a man who "did not inherit, [but]
originated." To close the collection, Reverdy C. Ransom briefly
eulogizes a poet whose loss was a blow to a people and a nation,
whose name must be spoken in the same breath as Wheatley, Browning,
Shelley, Burns, Keats, and Poe. More than anything, Paul Laurence
Dunbar: Poet Laureate of the Negro Race cements his reputation as
an artist with a powerful vision of faith and perseverance who
sought to capture and examine the diversity of the African American
experience. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of Paul Laurence Dunbar: Poet
Laureate of the Negro Race is a classic of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories (1899) is a short
story collection by Alice Dunbar Nelson. Dedicated to her husband
at the time, the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Goodness of St.
Rocque and Other Stories is a collection of brief vignettes of
Creole society in nineteenth century New Orleans. Exploring themes
of prejudice, faith, and romance, Dunbar Nelson crafts a poignant
and unforgettable work of fiction. Manuela is a popular young woman
of status in New Orleans' thriving Creole community. Like many
women her age, she hopes to marry a handsome and successful man.
Setting her sights on Theophile, she prepares to be courted in the
traditional manner of her people. When rumor gets out that he has
been spending time with Claralie, a beautiful blonde, Manuela is
forced to seek supernatural assistance. She visits a seer known as
the Wizened One, who advises her to pray at the altar of St.
Rocque. Determined and unwilling to give up what she believes will
be her destiny, she makes her way to the church to begin her first
novena. The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories collects
fourteen stories of life in New Orleans' Creole community by Alice
Dunbar Nelson, a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. With a
beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Alice Dunbar Nelson's The Goodness of St. Rocque
and Other Stories is a classic of African American literature
reimagined for modern readers.
Mine Eyes Have Seen (1918) is a one-act play by Alice Dunbar
Nelson. Published in The Crisis, the influential journal of the
NAACP, Mine Eyes Have Seen is a brutal portrait of race and
identity in twentieth century America. Exploring themes of
violence, faith, patriotism, and economic struggle, Dunbar Nelson
crafts a poignant and unforgettable work of fiction. When their
father, a successful black man, is lynched by vengeful white
neighbors, Dan, Chris, and Lucy flee north with their mother. They
reach the city safely, but their mother soon dies from heartbreak
and exhaustion, leaving her children to fend for themselves. Dan,
the eldest, manages to support his siblings until an accident at
the factory leaves him crippled. This forces Chris, a bitter young
man, to take financial responsibility for the family. When the
United States enters the First World War, authorizing the Selective
Service Act of 1917, Chris is drafted into the military. Despite
his hesitation and distrust of a government that allowed his father
to be murdered with impunity, he soon comes under the influence of
patriotic white neighbors who encourage him to sacrifice his life
for the nation. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Alice Dunbar
Nelson's Mine Eyes Have Seen is a classic of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar: Poems, Plays and Prose (2021) is a selection
of the literary works of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Dunbar
Nelson. With such collections Oak and Ivy (1892) and Majors and
Minors (1896), Paul Laurence Dunbar earned a reputation as an
artist with a powerful vision of faith and perseverance who sought
to capture and examine the diversity of the African American
experience. In her poems, plays, and stories, Alice Dunbar Nelson
explores themes of class, prejudice, faith, and romance while
paying particular attention to the phenomenon of racial passing.
Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar: Poems, Plays and Prose includes dozen of their
individual literary works in a compact, carefully curated volume.
Throughout his oeuvre, Dunbar explores the role of the poet in
society, grounding each poem within his identity as a Black man in
America. In "Frederick Douglass," an elegy written for the occasion
of the great man's passing, Dunbar makes clear the consequences of
pride and defiance in a nation built by slaves: "He dared the
lightning in the lightning's track, / And answered thunder with his
thunder back." In "The Place Where the Rainbow Ends," Dunbar,
perhaps reflecting on his proximity to death, provides a simple
song with a cautionary, utopian vision of hope and happiness: "Oh,
many have sought it, / And all would have bought it, / With the
blood we so recklessly spend; / But none has uncovered, / The gold,
nor discovered / The spot at the rainbow's end." Meditative and
bittersweet, Dunbar rejects wealth and power as a means of
achieving fulfillment, looking instead to establish an inner peace
for himself that he might "find without motion, / The place where
the rainbow ends," a place "[w]here care shall be quiet, / And love
shall run riot, / And [he] shall find wealth in [his] friends."
Whether a vision of heaven or of the possibility of peace on earth,
this poem finds echoes across Dunbar's penultimate volume. Nearing
death at such a young age, he prepares himself to lose the life he
had fought so hard to achieve, a life devoted to reaching the
hearts and minds of others. Mine Eyes Have Seen (1918) is a one-act
play by Alice Dunbar Nelson. Published in The Crisis, the
influential journal of the NAACP, Mine Eyes Have Seen is a brutal
portrait of race and identity in twentieth century America.
Exploring themes of violence, faith, patriotism, and economic
struggle, Dunbar Nelson crafts a poignant and unforgettable work of
fiction. In the short story "The Goodness of St. Rocque," Manuela
is a popular young woman of status in New Orleans' thriving Creole
community. Like many women her age, she hopes to marry a handsome
and successful man. Setting her sights on Theophile, she prepares
to be courted in the traditional manner of her people. When rumor
gets out that he has been spending time with Claralie, a beautiful
blonde, Manuela is forced to seek supernatural assistance. With a
beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar: Poems, Plays and Prose is a
classic of African American literature reimagined for modern
readers.
Violets and Other Tales (1895) is a collection of stories and poems
by Alice Dunbar Nelson. While working as a teacher in New Orleans,
Dunbar Nelson published Violets and Other Tales through The Monthly
Review, embarking on a career as a leading black writer of the
early twentieth century. "If perchance this collection of idle
thoughts may serve to while away an hour or two, or lift for a
brief space the load of care from someone's mind, their purpose has
been served-the author is satisfied." With this entreaty, Alice
Dunbar Nelson introduces her first published work with a humility
and caution rather unfitting an author of such immense talent. In
this collection of reflections, vignettes, short stories, and
poems, Dunbar Nelson proves herself as a writer immersed in the
classics, yet capable of illuminating the events and concerns of
her own generation. In "A Carnival Jangle," she provides a vibrant
description of New Orleans during its legendary season of
celebration. "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ" presents itself as
a newly discovered manuscript revealing Jesus' travels in India.
Dunbar Nelson's brilliant prose style is nicely juxtaposed with her
expertise in poetic form as she moves fluidly from love poems to
religious verses, narrative poems to heartbreaking elegies. Only
twenty years old when this collection was published, Dunbar Nelson
executes a brilliant debut to a long and distinguished career in
literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of Alice Dunbar Nelson's Violets
and Other Tales is a classic of African American literature
reimagined for modern readers.
These works are as multi-faceted as their writer, who was a
teacher, editor, public speaker, and campaign manager of mixed
white, black, and Indian descent, born in New Orleans in 1875. Her
pieces span the full range of literary genres - from short stories,
fluffy romances, mystical novelettes, poetry, and autobiographical
pieces to realistic racial drama, astute political commentary and
essays, and lively newspaper columns - all bearing the stamp of her
own cultural ambivalence and complex personality.
These works are as multi-faceted as their writer, who was a
teacher, editor, public speaker, and campaign manager of mixed
white, black, and Indian descent, born in New Orleans in 1875. Her
pieces span the full range of literary genres - from short stories,
fluffy romances, mystical novelettes, poetry, and autobiographical
pieces to realistic racial drama, astute political commentary and
essays, and lively newspaper columns - all bearing the stamp of her
own cultural ambivalence and complex personality.
Spanning the gamut of literary genres, from autobiographical short stories to poetry, journalism, and novelettes, this is a comprehensive collection of one of America's most seminal women writers. A testament to the nineteenth century as birthplace for black woman writers, The Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson offers insight into the themes of oppression and intolarance, often considered dangerous or ignored in the nineteenth century, but now pervade much writing today. Themes such as crossing racial boundaries, infused with Dunbar-Nelson's autobiographical fervor
This early work by Alice Dunbar Nelson was originally published in
1895. Born in New Orleans, USA in 1875, Alice Dunbar Nelson was
among the first African-Americans to be born free in the South
after the Civil War. She had a varied career, as a teacher, a
writer, and then as a political activist for the woman's sufferage
movement. This is a fascinating work and is thoroughly recommended
for anyone with an interest in feminist literature. Many of the
earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and
before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are
republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality,
modern editions.
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