Wikipedia’:
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, but most notably in mid-20th-century United States.[1] Some of Baldwin’s essays are book-length, including The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). An unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was expanded and adapted for cinema as the Academy Award–nominated documentary film I Am Not Your Negro.[2]One of his novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning dramatic film in 2018 directed and produced by filmmaker Barry Jenkins.
James Baldwin | |
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Baldwin in 1969 | |
Born | August 2, 1924 Harlem, New York City, U.S. |
Died | December 1, 1987(aged 63) Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | novelistplaywrightactivist |
Years active | 1947–1985 |
Notable work | Go Tell It on the MountainGiovanni’s RoomNotes of a Native Son |
Baldwin’s novels, short stories, and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create complex narratives that run parallel with some of t