James Baldwin Archives - Public Seminar

Literature

Introducing the Latest Issue of James Baldwin Review

Honoring Baldwin’s legacy in a new volume of academic research, criticism, and personal essays

October 3, 2022 • by Justin A. Joyce

As we continue to bring together a mixture of scholarship, reviews, and reflections—from a variety of voices—it is our humble aim to continue to grow our readership and expand the legacy and impact of our namesake author’s moving works and searing insights. ...

A Chronicler of Human Complexity

Swedish magazine Ord&Bild asks three James Baldwin scholars why his writing is so resonant today

October 27, 2021 • by Douglas Field, Justin A. Joyce and Cora Kaplan

James Baldwin has become the most cited literary figure in the Black Lives Matter movement. But his writing was never political in the narrow sense. So what makes Baldwin relevant today? On complex answers to a simple question. Ord&Bild: The first question is straightforward: what makes the work of James Baldwin relevant ...

Two Sisters on Slavery’s Hallowed Ground

Captivity, survival, and joy on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

October 6, 2021 • by Mark Allan Williams

On a trip to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, my two sisters and I went to visit a neighborhood in the town of Oxford, a place they regularly visited as kids during summer vacation. A sign approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had been installed there as ...