Publication: 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press
A revealing account of how a groundbreaking network of Black women writers reshaped American literature through advocacy and community building.
This post is part of the Books in Brief series, which features concise conversations with scholars about their books in African American literary studies.
1. What inspired you to pursue the lines of research and writing that resulted in this book?
Two mentors put me on the path to my book: Farah Griffin, who told me about the photo "The Sisterhood, 1977" when I was in grad school and Cheryl Wall, who told me a few years later that she had seen what she thought were minutes for meeting of that group. The photo and the minutes told me there was an important story there and it was one I had to figure out.
2. What surprised you most during your research or writing process?
Every former Sisterhood member whom I interviewed (whether on or off the record) was generous with her time and intellect. Some of them stayed in touch, offered encouragement along the way, and supported my book once it was out. Maybe it's less that I was surprised by these women's generosity, but more that I remain just bowled over by it and wildly grateful for it.
3. What was the hardest decision you had to make while writing this book?
Over years of writing and revision, some readers kept pushing for me to include more about the private lives of Sisterhood members. Sticking to my commitment to write about their work as intellectuals and writers—which is what the group was about!—was often difficult.
4. What's one lesson you learned while producing this book that you'll carry into future projects?
It takes time, financial support, and the help of network of librarians, archivists, scholars, and writers to research and write literary and cultural history. With all that support, I can do my best work: careful, serious, slow research writing, and revision that hopefully results in a book that will be useful for years to come.
5. Optional: If any come to mind, are there books in African American literary studies that you see your work in conversation with?
Alexis De Veaux's Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde is the gold standard for writing beautiful literary history that uses close reading of poetry to advance a narrative. Shanna Benjamin's Half in Shadow: The Life of Nellie Y. McKay and Howard Rambsy's The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry , along with his blog posts and journal articles, taught me how to think and write about the material conditions of African American literature. I wrote The Sisterhood in conversation with Erica Edwards's The Other Side of Terror: Black Women and the Culture of US Empire ; I hope that influence shows on every page. Mary Helen Washington's books all remind me how and why we continue studying and teaching Black women's writing.
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