DLB 38: Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists & Prose Writers (Dictionary of Literary Biography, 38)

Since the mid-1950s, drama has emerged as a major genre for African-Americans writers. The flood of creative outpourings in the 1960s that led to the black arts movement brought in its wake a new generation of dramatists who provided some of the most influential voices in American literature. The early 1960s introduced new dramatic forms to larger audiences. Ossie Davis Purlie Victorious and Adrienne Kennedys Funnyhouse of a Negro are examples of productions that carried messages of a reality rarely seen outside African-American communities. Just as African-American dramatists were interested in creating a theater in their own image, prose writers were interested in literary creations relevant to African-Americans. During this time, autobiography and biography became increasingly important as modes for expressing this history.

35 entries include: Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Alice Childress, Ossie Davis, Alex Haley, Lorraine Hansberry, Adrienne Kennedy, Ron Milner, Larry Neal and Samm-Art Williams.