An essential encyclopedic reference, Encyclopedia of African-American Literature guides readers through the rich history of African-American writing. More than 500 engaging entries cover the people, works, and events that have come to define African-American literature. This invaluable resource includes such authors as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Gayl Jones, Ralph Ellison, and Gloria Naylor, and major works such as A Raisin in the Sun, Native Son, The Color Purple, and Invisible Man. These entries are enhanced by bibliographies that help readers pursue further research. Additional entries include characters, periodicals, important anthologies, movements, concepts, and other related topics. Spanning the colonial period to the Harlem Renaissance and modernist periods to the Black Aesthetics movement to the contemporary age, this book provides comprehensive coverage of the history of African-American literature.