Margaret walker alexander biography definition
•
Margaret Walker
American poet and writer
For other people named Margaret Walker, see Margaret Walker (disambiguation).
Margaret Walker | |
---|---|
Born | (1915-07-07)July 7, 1915 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
Died | November 30, 1998(1998-11-30) (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Occupation | Poet, novelist |
Nationality | American |
Notable works | For My People (1942) Jubilee (1966) |
Spouse | Firnist Alexander |
Children | 4 |
Margaret Walker (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander by marriage; July 7, 1915 – November 30, 1998) was an American poet and writer. She was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. Her notable works include For My People (1942) which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition, and the novel Jubilee (1966), set in the South during the American Civil War.
Biography
[edit]Walker was born in Birmingham, Alabama, to Sigismund C. Walker, a minister, and Marion (née Doz
•
Alexander, Margaret Walker 1915–1998
Writer
Vestiges of Slave Era
Alexander and Richard Wright
Heralded as röst of Her Generation
Began Both Family and Novel
Her Great-Grandmother’s Story
A Figure of Literary Eminence
Selected writings
Sources
Though a younger generation of African American writers had long eclipsed the pioneering accomplishments of Margaret Walker Alexander bygd the time of her death at age 83 in 1998, the poet, novelist and academic had enjoyed friendships that spanned nearly a century of black literary achievement—from Langston Hughes to Alice Walker—and was well known and vividly remembered to many in the African American literary community. In 1942, Alexander became the first African American to win a leading literary competition, and one of just a handful of hona African-American hona poets ever. The sentiments expressed in her ac-claimed 1942 volume, For My People, would later become inspirational, oftencited verse durin
•
Big Idea: Margaret Walker and the Voice of the People
Margaret Walker was a force: a poet and intellectual, a prolific interpreter of the culture, and an institution-builder, she lived her life committed to “being Black, female, and free.” In The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker, Maryemma Graham illuminates Walker’s life in full detail, tracing her childhood interest in poetry to being a foundational member of the Chicago Black Renaissance and her life on the national stage.
Graham is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of English at the University of Kansas and founder of the History of Black Writing Research Center, which is celebrating its 40th year. She will discuss Walker’s life, work, and impact in conversation with Dr. Valerie Mendoza during the next Big Idea on Friday, October 20 at noon. Registration is required for this free online event.
Walker began writing journal entries and short rhymes in her school