Making Callaloo: 25 Years of Black Literature

By: Rowell, Charles Henry

Book Overview

This important book collects a wide range of fiction and poetry that first appeared in the pages of "Callaloo, "the premier literary journal devoted to African-diaspora literature and to Black literary and cultural studies. Founded twenty-five years ago--and still edited--by Charles Henry Rowell (Texas A&M University, College Station), "Callaloo" is both national and international in terms of scope and readership. It is also, as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., observed, "without doubt, the most elegantly edited journal of African and African-American literature of] today." This anthology, ideally suited for all readers studying modern Black literature, includes the work of Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Lucille Clifton, Terry McMillan, Ai, Nathaniel Mackey, John Edgar Wideman, Michael S. Harper, Charles Johnson, Thylias Moss, and many other disntinguished authors.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312290217
• ISBN13: 9780312290214
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 1.6" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

A Tasty Stew

CALLALOO is to be congratulated. Its tiny beginning, practically a mimeo magazine, blossomed into the most important journal of African-American writing ever published, and 25 years later it is still going strong, although perhaps it's not quite as exciting as it once was. The anthology, unfortunately, doesn't give you a good picture of what the magazine is like, by eliminating all traces of its critical edge, its portfolio of visual artists, and any sampling of the drama, which right now is its strong point, all serve to remove some of the "ingredients" to the "Callaloo" which makes it such a tasty stew. Nevertheless in the poetry and fiction departments, which are all that are represented in this anthology, Rowell has selected some classic tales and poems, including Ralph Ellison and Alice Walker. We don't get much of a sense of progression, however, because Rowell has unaccountably ordered his contributors by alphabetical order rather than chronology, so we have no sense of Harryette Mullen growing out of Sonia Sanchez or whoever, indeed it's pretty much the reverse. That caveat aside, the book is exemplary in every way.

Making a Mark on Literature

On the dinner table, Callaloo is a stew rich in spices that is made from the leaves of the African dasheen plant. On the bookshelf, Callaloo is a literary journal that has highlighted work from the African Diaspora for the past 25 years. Edited by Charles Henry Rowell, it has provided the literary community with the profound authorship of its contributers. Making Callaloo, a compilation, celebrates these 25 years by showcasing some of the best pieces of prose and poetry that have appeared in the journal during this time.Included in the compilation are works by talented authors such as Ralph Ellison, Helen Elaine Lee, Percival Everett, Leon Forrest, and Terry McMillan. One of the works of short fiction that I thought was particulary compelling is Octavia Butler's "The Morning and the Evening and the Night." In this short story Butler tells the tale of a diseased group of people, known as "the DGD's". The existence of the DGD's is heartwrenching, and the story lingers long after the last word has been digested.The poetic voices of Alice Walker, Cyrus Cassells, Rita Dove, and Sonia Sanchez are heard loud and clear in Making Callaloo. Cassells' piece "Sally Hemmings to Thomas Jefferson" paints a vivid picture of the taboo love the two struggled with. Cassels' verse is deep and rhythmic, digging a virtual trench, penetrating the readers' very being.Just like the Caribbean stew callaloo satiates the body's hunger, Making Callaloo is a collection of work and authors that enriches the mind and spirit. This is art. This is literature. This is Callaloo. Reviewed by Candace K