"A jewel which belongs in libraries, churches, classrooms and homes of women and men of all colors, cultures and religions." -- Carter Heyward, The Women's Review of Books Featuring the work of Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, bell hooks, Audre Lourde, Toni Morrison, Bernice Johnson Reagan, Sonia Sanchez, Susan L.Taylor, Iyanla Vanzant, and Alice Walker, among many others, My Soul Is a Witness is a powerful testament to the importance of religion and spirituality in the lives of African-American women. The writings in this anthology bear witness to specific ways that the Spirit expresses itself in the lives of African-American women, whether through a sign, dream, song, in connection with an ancestor, or as a call to service. My Soul Is a Witness demonstrates that experience of faith, although unique to every individual, is also the inheritance of these women in the African-American community. Surely, this anthology will touch every sister of the spirit.
"Gloria Wade-Gayles's My Soul Is a Witness is an authentic call to days, rituals and strengths of old. Strengths we still have. Spirituality we need to rely upon." --Sandra West, Chicago Defender

Literary Criticism -- Biography -->

"Conversations with Gwendolyn Brooks" features sparkling interviews with one of America's most valued poets. Throughout this book, which spans three decades, Brooks (1917-2000) speaks with simplicity, depth, candor, and passion about the making of a poem and about the position of the poet in humane society.

A poem, she believed, comes from the heart. In each interview, she speaks from the heart and wins over the reader. The interviews took place in various settings-in radio recording studios and in university classrooms, in the coveted spotlight of a National Endowment for the Humanities celebration, and in the intimacy of her living room.

Regardless of place or audience, Brooks speaks with humility. She was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and to receive other coveted honors, and yet she sees herself as "an ordinary human being who is impelled to write poetry."

Brooks explains her experience within the creative process. She does not believe in a Muse. With gratitude to the Black Arts Movement, she celebrates both her blackness and the people in Bronzeville, the fictional community she created and whose lives she "put down" on paper.

Including interviews conducted by Studs Terkel and poet Haki Madhubuti, among others, "Conversations with Gwendolyn Brooks" underscores the legacy of one of the nation's most brilliant and humane poets.

Gloria Wade Gayles is Eminent Scholar's Chair in Independent Study, Scholarship, and Service at Spelman College. She is the author of several books-including ""My Soul Is a Witness": African American Women's Spirituality" and "No Crystal Stair: Visions of Race andGender in Black Women's Fiction,"

The first woman to win the Hugo Award (given annually by the World Science Fiction convention) and the Nebula Award (given annually by the Science Fiction Writers of America), Anne McCaffrey has invented many worlds of science fiction. Her series The Dragonriders of Pern has become one of the most widely read in science fiction history. This is the first complete critical study of her work. It examines all of her novels to date, both individual and series, and reveals why she deserves the critical recognition her works have received. Roberts explores the range and complexity of her novels and the recurrent themes that have attracted so many young adults to her work: the heroine as outsider, the need for tolerance and the acceptance of difference, the importance of living harmoniously with nature, and the value of art and literature. McCaffrey's contributions to science fiction are many, including the creation of scientifically engineered dragons, brain ships, and scientifically explained mental powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. Roberts shows how McCaffrey's extrapolation of science raises social issues and causes us to think about the future. Each chapter in this study deals with an individual novel or series and features sections on genre, plot, theme, and character development. In addition, Roberts defines and applies a variety of theoretical approaches to the works to widen the reader's perspective. The study features a chapter on McCaffrey's life, including an interview with her, a chapter defining the science fiction genre and McCaffrey's place in it, and a complete bibliography of McCaffrey's fiction and of reviews and criticism. Because of her great popularity amongteenagers and adults, this study is a necessary purchase by secondary schools and public libraries.