James Baldwin

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James Baldwin
Baldwin in 1969
Baldwin in 1969
Born(1924-08-02)August 2, 1924
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 1, 1987(1987-12-01) (aged 63)
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Resting placeFerncliff Cemetery, Westchester County, New York
OccupationNovelist, playwright, activist
LanguageEnglish
EducationDeWitt Clinton High School
Genre
Notable works
Years active1947–1985

James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and social critic.

Baldwin's essays, such as the collection Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore racial, sexual, and class matters in Western societies, mostly in mid-20th-century America. He looks at how these large things cause problems for, mostly but not only, African American individuals.[1]

Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. He studied at DeWitt Clinton High School and at The New School. Baldwin was gay. He never married and had no children. Baldwin died on December 1, 1987 in Saint-Paul de Vence, France from esophageal cancer, aged 63.[2][3]

Novels[change | change source]

Essays and short stories[change | change source]

Many essays and short stories by Baldwin were published for the first time as part of collections. Others, however, were published individually at first and later included with Baldwin's compilation books. Some essays and stories of Baldwin's that were originally released on their own include:

Collections[change | change source]

Many essays and short stories by Baldwin were published for the first time as part of collections, which also included older, individually-published works (such as above) of Baldwin's as well. These collections include:

Plays and audio[change | change source]

Works with others[change | change source]

Collections printed after Baldwin's death[change | change source]

  • 1998. Early Novels & Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man, edited by Toni Morrison.[13]
  • 1998. Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, The Devil Finds Work, Other Essays, edited by Toni Morrison.[14]
  • 2014. Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems.[15]
  • 2015. Later Novels: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, If Beale Street Could Talk, Just Above My Head, edited by Darryl Pinckney.[16]
  • 2016. Baldwin for Our Times: Writings from James Baldwin for an Age of Sorrow and Struggle, with notes and introduction by Rich Blint.[17]

References[change | change source]

  1. "James Baldwin". Poetry Foundation. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  2. James Baldwin Biography, accessed December 2, 2010
  3. James Baldwin: His Voice Remembered, The New York Times, December 20, 1987
  4. Baldwin, James. October 1953. "Stranger in the Village (subscription required)." Harper's Magazine.
  5. Baldwin, James. "Stranger in the Village (annotated)", edited by J. R. Garza. Genius.
  6. "Richard Wright, tel que je l'ai connu" (French translation). Preuves. February 1961.
  7. Baldwin, James (November 17, 1962). "Letter from a Region in My Mind". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  8. Baldwin, James (December 1, 1962). "A Letter to My Nephew". The Progressive. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  9. Baldwin, James. December 21, 1963. "A Talk to Teachers." The Saturday Review.
  10. Baldwin, James. April 9, 1967. "Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White." New York Times Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  11. Baldwin, James. 1961. Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son. US: Dial Press. ISBN 0-679-74473-8.
  12. Baldwin, James. [2010] 2011. The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings, edited by R. Kenan. US: Vintage International. ISBN 978-0307275967. ASIN 0307275965.
  13. Morrison, Toni, ed. 1998. Early Novels & Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-883011-51-2.
  14. Morrison, Toni, ed.1998. Collected Essays: Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, The Devil Finds Work, Other Essays. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-883011-52-9.
  15. Baldwin, James. 2014. Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems. US: Beacon Press. ASIN 0807084867.
  16. Pinckney, Darryl, ed. 2015. Later Novels: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, If Beale Street Could Talk, Just Above My Head. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-454-2.
  17. Blint, Rich, notes and introduction. 2016. Baldwin for Our Times: Writings from James Baldwin for an Age of Sorrow and Struggle.

Other websites[change | change source]