Explore Black History

1978

A white plastic audio cassette with recordings of two episodes of the Literary Corner radio show. The program numbers are handwritten on the cassette in graphite.
Side A: “Introduction to Afro-American Fiction/Prose Part I”
Episode 5 of the Literary Corner radio program. It is the first part of a two-part discussion to African American fiction, where Professor Sarah Fabio takes an historical approach to recounting some of the prominent figures of African American fiction. The conversation opens with host Brooks Robinson saying, “Today an introduction to Afro-American fiction part one with our Afro-American literary expert and analyst Professor Sarah Fabio...and in this discussion Professor Fabio takes an historical approach in recounting some of the prominent writers of Afro-American fiction…” Some of the topics discussed in this episode are William Wells Browns’ fiction, especially his novel Clotel, Or The President’s Daughter, which was published in London; Charles Chesnutt’s fiction (The Goophered Grapevine); Paul Laurence Dunbar’s fiction and poetry (Sport of the Gods); fiction writers in the early 20th century and the challenges of African American fiction writing at that time; the impact of WWI on African American fiction; the impact of some early 20th-century writers/works such as Langston Hughes’ Not Without Laughter, Claude McKay’s Banjo and Jean Toomer. The conversation concludes with a discussion of Jean Toomer’s Cane and the experimental form that the book takes. As Professor Fabio talks about Cane, the outro music slowly fades in.
Side B: “Introduction to Afro-American Fiction/Prose Part II”
Episode 6 of the Literary Corner radio program. It is part two of a two-part interview between Brooks Robinson and Professor Sarah Fabio, and traces African American fiction from the end of the Harlem Renaissance to the 1970s. Some of the topics discussed in this episode include African-American fiction writers that emerged and/or published works between the end of the Harlem Renaissance and the 1950s, such as Richard Wright (Native Son, Black Boy and Uncle Tom’s Children), Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man), Charles Himes, Ann Petry, Frank Yerby as well as Willard Motley (Knock On Any Door); short story writers in the mid-20th century such as James Baldwin, William Melvin Kelley, John Killens, Mary “Ellen” Vroman, Julian Mayfield, Ernest Gaines, Christine Hanna and LeRoy Jones; Contemporary writers; works of the 1970s such as John Killens (And Then We Heard the Thunder and The Cotillion), Julian Mayfield (The Hit), Chester Himes (The Third Generation), John Weaver (Sissy!), John Williams (The Man Who Cried I Am), “Jimmy” Baldwin (Go Tell It On The Mountain); newly emerging writers such as Toni Morrison, Toni Cade Bambara, Alice Walker and Ismael Reed. Toward the end of the interview, Robinson asks whether black writers will change their approach to writing given the persistence of racial issues. The episode concludes with Dr. Fabio’s response.

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

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

2010.17.1.3a

audio cassettes

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

plastic and tape

H x W: 2 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 5/8 in. (7 × 10.8 × 1.6 cm)
Duration (side a): 15 min., 4 sec.
Duration (side b): 15 min., 5 sec.

Title • The Literary Corner: Introduction to Afro-American Fiction/Prose Part I (side a) / Introduction to Afro-American Fiction/Prose Part II (side b)

nmaahc_2010.17.1.3a

NMAAHC

THE LITERARY CORNER: INTRODUCTION TO AFRO-AMERICAN FICTION/PROSE PART I (SIDE A) / INTRODUCTION TO AFRO-AMERICAN FICTION/PROSE PART II (SIDE B)

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1970s

Dunbar, Paul Laurence • Morrison, Toni • Fabio, Sarah • Robinson, Brooks B. • Toomer, Jean • McKay, Claude • Cham, Robert • Brown, William Wells • Wright, Richard • Ellison, Ralph Waldo • Chesnutt, Charles W. • Hughes, Langston

United States • North and Central America

Literature • BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976) • Poetry • Radio

Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

Sound recordings

Limited Use