Explore Black History

1978

A white plastic cassette tape with recordings of two episodes of the radio program The Literary Corner. The cassette has a beige label on which typewritten text on one side reads [ THE LITERARY CORNER / B W O T W Intro to African- American Essays]. The typewritten text on the other side reads [THE LITERARY CORNER / Intro to African Drama].
Side A: “Introduction to Afro-American Essays with Sarah Fabio and Thomas Schick”
Episode 17 of the Literary Corner radio program entitled “Introduction to Afro-American Essays with Sarah Fabio and Thomas Schick.” It begins with Professor Thomas Schick discussing the Afro-American essay and its purpose, before host Brooks Robinson formally introduces Dr. Schick as the episode’s guest. The main individuals and/or subjects covered in this episode include the free blacks who authored some of the first African American essays; “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia in the Year 1793” written by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones; essayists such as James Forten, Lydia Child and Robert Purvis; Edward Wilmot Blyden’s writings; David Walker’s Appeal; Martin R. Delany and Robert Campbell; late 19th century essays/essayists such as W.E.B. DuBois (The Souls of Black Folk) and William Wells Brown (“The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Achievements by 1863”); essayists during the Harlem Renaissance, such as Alaine Locke (editor of The New Negro magazine); critiques and literary analyses, such as James Baldwin’s “Nobody Knows My Name,” and critiques by Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright; contemporary essayists such as Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver. The episode concludes with Professors Sarah Fabio and Thomas Schick discussing the importance of independent magazines and pamphlets. Professor Fabio mentions some journals, such as Negro Journal, Phylon from Atlanta University, and CLA Journal, “that always kept the essay alive.”
Side B: “Introduction to African English Drama with Brooks Robinson”
Episode 24 of the Literary Corner radio program. The episode begins with a dramatization of an excerpt from Wole Soyinka’s play The Trials of Brother Hero. Some of the individuals/topics covered in this episode are Wole Soyinka’s works, such as Jero’s Metamorphosis and A Dance of the Forest; the development of anglophone African drama over time; dates the first anglophone African plays were published; genres of African drama; the challenges anglophone African playwrights face; the works of African playwright John Pepper Clark, such as A Song of A Goat, The Masquerade, The Raft, and Ozidi; major themes in John Pepper Clark’s work, such as lineage and arbitrariness; the impact of the Nigerian civil war on Clark’s work; as well as the impact of British colonization on West African drama. The episode concludes with Robinson providing an explanation as to why there are only two exceptional anglophone African drama writers: Wole Soyinka and John Pepper Clark, both of whom are from Nigeria. He continues by stating that there are other emerging anglophone African drama writers and that more will continue to emerge over time, before reciting the outro.

Cassette tape with two episodes of the Literary Corner radio program

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

The Literary Corner: Black Writers of the World

Time-based Media - Audio

Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement)
BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976)

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Contributed in memory of Professor Sarah Webster Fabio (1928-1979), poet, educator, Black Arts Movement icon, and one of the Literary Corner's analysts.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2010.17.1.9a

audiotapes

© Brooks B. Robinson
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

plastic and tape

H x W (audiocassette): 2 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 5/8 in. (7 × 10.8 × 1.6 cm)
Duration (side A): 00:15:08
Duration (side B): 00:14:49

Title • The Literary Corner: Introduction to Afro-American Essays with Sarah Fabio and Thomas Schick (side a) / Introduction to African English Drama with Brooks Robinson (side b)

nmaahc_2010.17.1.9a

NMAAHC

THE LITERARY CORNER: INTRODUCTION TO AFRO-AMERICAN ESSAYS WITH SARAH FABIO AND THOMAS SCHICK (SIDE A) / INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN ENGLISH DRAMA WITH BROOKS ROBINSON (SIDE B)

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1970s

Soyinka, Wole • Fabio, Sarah • Clark, John Pepper • Robinson, Brooks B. • Cham, Robert • Schick, Thomas • Delany, Martin Robison

United States • West Africa • North and Central America • Nigeria • Philadelphia County • Philadelphia • Pennsylvania

Slavery • Folklife • Literature • U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865 • Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement) • BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976) • Poetry • Radio • Drama (Theatre)

Region • West Africa • Continent • Africa • City • Philadelphia • County • Philadelphia County • State • Pennsylvania • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America • Country • Nigeria

Sound recordings

Limited Use