James Baldwin

      Take a moment and read the bio of one of the greatest writers of....OUR STORY

 

 James Baldwin – 1924 to 1987 

Writer, playwright. Born August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York. One of the 20th century's greatest writers, James Baldwin broke new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. He was especially well known for his essays on the black experience in America.

Baldwin was born to a young single mother, Emma Jones, at Harlem Hospital. She reportedly never told him the name of his biological father. Jones married a Baptist minister named David Baldwin when James was about three years old. Despite their strained relationship, he followed in his stepfather's footsteps—which he always referred to as his father—during his early teen years. He served as a youth minister in a Harlem Pentecostal church from the ages of 14 to 16.

Baldwin developed a passion for reading at an early age, and demonstrated a gift for writing during his school years. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he worked on the school's magazine with future famous photographer Richard Avedon. He published numerous poems, short stories, and plays in the magazine, and his early work showed an understanding for sophisticated literary devices in a writer of such a young age.

After graduating high school in 1942, he had to put his plans for college on hold to help support his family, which included seven younger children. He took whatever work he could find, including laying railroad track for the U.S. Army in New Jersey. During this time, Baldwin frequently encountered discrimination, being turned away from restaurants, bars, and other establishments because he was African-American. After being fired from the New Jersey job, Baldwin sought other work and struggled to make ends meet.

On July 29, 1943, Baldwin lost his father—and gained his eighth sibling the same day. He soon moved to Greenwich Village, a New York City neighborhood popular with artists and writers. Devoting himself to writing a novel, Baldwin took odd jobs to support himself. He befriended writer Richard Wright, and through Wright he was able to land a fellowship in 1945 to cover his expenses. Baldwin started getting essays and short stories published in such national periodicals as The Nation, Partisan Review, and Commentary.

Three years later, Baldwin made a dramatic change in his life, and moved to Paris on another fellowship. The shift in location freed Baldwin to write more about his personal and racial background. "Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly...I am the grandson of a slave, and I am writer. I must deal with both," Baldwin once told The New York Times. The move marked the beginning of his life as a "transatlantic commuter," dividing his time between France and the United States.

Baldwin had his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, published in 1953. The loosely autobiographical tale focused on the life of a young man growing up in Harlem grappling with father issues and his religion. "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else. I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal, above all, with my father," Baldwin later said.

     Primary Works of James Baldwin

Go Tell It on the Mountain (novel). New York: Knopf, 1953.

Notes of a Native Son (essays). Boston: Beacon, 1955.

Giovanni's Room (novel). New York: Dial, 1956.

Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (essays). New York: Dial, 1961.

Another Country (novel). New York: Dial, 1962.

The Fire Next Time (essays). New York: Dial, 1963.

Blues for Mr. Charlie (play). New York: Dial, 1964.

Going to Meet the Man (stories). New York: Dial, 1965. Contains "Sonny's Blues."

The Amen Corner (play). New York: Dial, 1968.

Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (novel). New York: Dial, 1968.

A Rap on Race (dialogue with Margaret Mead). Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1971.

No Name in the Street (essays). New York: Dial, 1972.

One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." New York: Dial, 1973.

A Dialogue: James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1973.

If Beale Street Could Talk. New York: Dial, 1974.

The Devil Finds Work: An Essay. New York: Dial, 1976.

Little Man, Little Man (juvenile). New York: Dial, 1977.

Just Above My Head (novel). New York: Dial, 1979.

Jimmy's Blues: Selected Poems. London: Joseph, 1983; New York: St. Martin's, 1985.

The Evidence of Things Not Seen (essay). New York: Holt, 1985.

The Price of the Ticket: Collected Non-Fiction 1948-1985. New York: St. Martin's, 1985.

Collected Essays. New York: Library of America, 1998.

Early Novels and Stories. New York: Library of America, 1998.