Tuesday, May 2, 2017, 1 p.m.
7400 York Road, Room 113 A
A New England Women’s Literary Tradition: From Phillis Wheatley to Toni Morrison
by Lena Ampadu
This presentation will discuss a segment of a broader research project whose primary goal is to create an anthology examining the emergence and development of a Black women’s literary tradition emphasizing the distinctive experiences of African Americans in New England from the Colonial period to the present. The project brings to the forefront the voices of authors like Lucy Terry; Phillis Wheatley; Ann Plato; Harriet Wilson ; Ann Petry; and Mary Ellen Pleasant, all of whom were either born in New England or linked through birth or familial ties. Other writers like Frances Harper and Toni Morrison, who were not born in New England, explored the New England landscape in their writings. A key question explored will be: “How do race, gender, region, and social class affect these women’s literary depictions of the quest for freedom and equality”?
Dr. Lena Ampadu is Professor in the Department of English, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in African American literature, black women writers, grammar, and composition. She has given scholarly presentations at several national and international conferences and has published a number of essays on African American rhetoric and literature. Her current research centers on vernacular traditions in African American literature and the role of geography, race, gender, and class in shaping African American literature.
Hosted by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Towson University.
