Wesley Brown (writer) explained

Wesley Brown (born 1945)[1] is an American writer, playwright, and professor.[2] [3] He is best known for his books Tragic Magic and Darktown Strutters.[4]

Tragic Magic, Brown's first novel, received strong reviews. Kirkus Reviews wrote that Brown's "sentences end in unexpected pretzels, they blurt and croon; his gift is improvisatory and brassy."[5] James W. Coleman, writing in Black American Literature Forum, thought that Brown did "a brilliant job of maintaining the tension and vitality of the novel's language, which is a genuine tour de force."[6] The novel, about a young man just out of prison for refusing induction into the armed services, has been called a "jazz-narrative."[7] [8] Tragic Magic was edited by Toni Morrison, at Random House.[9] The book was reissued in hardcover by McSweeney's in 2021, part of the publisher's "Of the Diaspora" series spotlighting important works in Black literature.

Brown published his second novel, about a minstrel show performer, in 1994.[10] The New York Times praised Darktown Strutters, writing that by "combining the simple prose of a folk tale with the meta-psychology of a philosopher, Wesley Brown has created a vivid, disturbing work of the historical imagination."[11] Life During Wartime, Brown's 1992 play, was called a "complex, intelligent and thought-provoking drama" by the Times.[12]

He has served as a judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award.[13]

Brown has taught at Rutgers University and Bard College at Simon's Rock.[14] [15]

Selected bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wesley Brown - Book Reading And Conversation With Ben Ratleff. NYU Arts and Science. December 8, 2022.
  2. Web site: Wesley Brown's Push Comes to Shove by Patricia Spears Jones - BOMB Magazine. bombmagazine.org. October 2009 .
  3. Tenured Black Professors in the English Department of the Nation's 25 Highest-Ranked Universities. Benjamin, Richard M.. 1995. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 8. 79–82. 2963059.
  4. Book: Coleman, James W.. Black Male Fiction and the Legacy of Caliban. January 13, 2015. University Press of Kentucky. 9780813158686. Google Books.
  5. Web site: TRAGIC MAGIC by Wesley Brown | Kirkus Reviews. www.kirkusreviews.com.
  6. Language, Reality, and Self in Wesley Brown's Tragic Magic. Coleman, James W.. 1981. Black American Literature Forum. 15. 2. 48–50. 10.2307/2904080. 2904080.
  7. Book: Brown, Wesley. Tragic Magic. November 23, 1978. Random House. 9780394502243. Google Books.
  8. Book: Hawkins-Dady, Mark. Reader's Guide to Literature in English. December 6, 2012. Routledge. 9781135314170. Google Books.
  9. Book: Beaulieu, Elizabeth Ann. The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia. November 23, 2003. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313316999. Google Books.
  10. Book: Brown, Wesley. Darktown Strutters. November 23, 1994. Cane Hill Press. 9780943433110. Google Books.
  11. News: Hit the Ground Dancing. Thomas. Fleming. The New York Times. March 6, 1994.
  12. News: THEATER REVIEW; The Volatile Search for Truth and Blame. Anita. Gates. The New York Times. April 14, 1998.
  13. Web site: Literary License. Curt. Suplee. April 12, 1982. www.washingtonpost.com.
  14. Web site: Brown, Wesley. english.rutgers.edu.
  15. Web site: Wesley Brown | Bard College at Simon's Rock. simons-rock.edu.

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