Description

"A product of literary recovery at its very best. These carefully
researched essays help us to see how gender marginalized black intellectuals
who happened to be women." -- Claudia Tate, George Washington University
The Unruly Voice explores the literary and journalistic career
of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, a turn-of-the-century African American writer
who was editor in chief of the Colored American Magazine, though
it was not acknowledged on the masthead. Hopkins wrote short fiction,
novels, nonfiction articles, and a play believed to be the first by an
African American woman. Versatile and politically committed, she was fired
when the magazine was bought by an ally of Booker T. Washington's who
disliked her editorial stands and unconciliatory politics.
Even though more than a thousand pages of Hopkins's works have been brought
back into print, The Unruly Voice is the first book devoted exclusively
to her writings and the significance she holds for readers today. Contributors
explore the social, political, and historical conditions that informed
her literary works.