Tag Archives: Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison: Survival Blues

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Richard Guzman

During my long career, I’ve been lucky to meet many writers. Somewhere in the mid-70’s, for example, I met Peter Matthiessen shortly after I’d read his great non-fiction book The Snow Leopard and used it in one of my classes.  … Continue reading →

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Sterling Plumpp: Survival Blues

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Richard Guzman

Born in rural Mississippi in 1940, Sterling Plumpp has for thirty years taught at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and produced a body of poetry giving him considerable claim to be one of the country’s most distinguished blues-jazz poets. Somber … Continue reading →

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William Attaway: Banana Boats and Civil Rights

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Richard Guzman

One of the most versatile black writers in American history, William Attaway wrote poems, stories, plays, music, and scripts for radio, television, and film.  With the appearance of his first novel Let Me Breathe Thunder in 1939, and especially Blood … Continue reading →

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