Houston Baker, Blyden Jackson, James Olney, and John Sekora examine the status of African-American writing and literature in the mid-1980s and discuss changes in awareness of black writing to academic and popular audiences. They note increasing interest in and knowledge of African-American writers, social activism in black literature, and autobiography.
At the time of this interview, all of the speakers had been Fellows at the National Humanities Center and were professors of English at various institutions. Baker (University of Pennsylvania), Jackson (emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Sekora (North Carolina Central University) were Fellows at the Center in 1982-83. Olney (Louisiana State University) was a Fellow at the Center in 1980-81.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
