Why Read Edward P. Jones Right Now

A brief take on Edward P. Jones’s vivid portrayals of Washington, D.C., revealing the city’s complexity, resilience, and humanity beyond the caricatures found in politics and media.

Written by Kenton Rambsy

Read by Kassandra Timm

------------ 

Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

Toni Morrison and the 1970s

A brief take on Toni Morrison’s transformative work in the 1970s, revealing how her simultaneous roles as editor and novelist reshaped the literary landscape by elevating Black writers, amplifying new voices, and producing several of her own landmark works.

Written by Elizabeth Cali
Read by Kassandra Timm

------------ 

Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

Forgotten Readers

A brief take on the often-overlooked identity of collegiate Black men as readers, highlighting their engagement with African American literature and their vital place in reading culture.

Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm

------------ 

Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

Toni Morrison and Dissertations

A brief take on Toni Morrison’s extraordinary presence in over 560 dissertations since 2000, revealing her enduring influence on generations of scholars and African American literary studies.

Written by Howard Rambsy II 

Read by Kassandra Timm

------------ 

Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

Images from the Black Books Fashion Show, Part 2

A few photos from the second installment of the Black Books Fashion Show. Big ups to Davion Sides for snapping.

Related:

• Black Books Fashion Shows

Black Books Fashion Shows

December 2025

• Comic Book, Afrofuturism-based Runway Fashion Show Inspired by Black Lit Network (SIUE News)

• Black Books Fashion Show, Part 2 (video clips) 

• Images from the Black Books Fashion Show, Part 2

September 2025

• Black Books Fashion Show, Part 1

Related:

• SIUE Reads

Another Social Protest Adaptation

A brief take on James Baldwin’s critique of “social protest fiction,” exploring how audiences continue to embrace and adapt works like Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Native Son.

Written by Nicole Dixon

Voice narration by Kassandra Timm  

------------ 

Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

Peter J. Gomes and Others Introducing Frederick Douglass

The 1997 and 2005 Signet editions with Gomes's introduction 

Last week, in one of his news-and-notes emails, attorney and art collector Cleo Thomas mentioned that he and his wife Carla were engaged while in graduate school and that “our ministerial counselor there was Peter Gomes of The Memorial Church at Harvard.”

The name Peter Gomes immediately caught my attention. For the last decade and a half, likely more, I have collected editions of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The 1997 Signet edition of Douglass’s Narrative includes an introduction by Gomes, and that same introduction was reprinted in the 2005 edition.

Since 1960, when Douglass’s Narrative was reintroduced in a Harvard University Press edition edited by Benjamin Quarles, a number of prominent scholars have contributed introductions to later versions. Robert O’Meally, William Andrews, Houston Baker Jr., David Blight, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Angela Davis, and Deborah E. McDowell, among others, have all produced introductions for editions of Douglass’s text. Remembering Thomas’s note about his ministerial counselor reminded me that Gomes too belongs to that distinguished group of contributors--writers who have introduced Douglass's Narrative. 

The 1997 edition includes a biographical note that reads, “Peter J. Gomes has been a minister at the Memorial Church of Harvard University since 1974. He is the author of The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart.”

The 2005 edition offers a similar note: “Peter J. Gomes has been a minister at the Memorial Church of Harvard University since 1974. He is the author of Strength for the Journey: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living.” 

The Good Book was published in 1996, and Strength for the Journey followed in 2003.

Gomes’s presence in these editions highlights how wide a range of thinkers has been called on to introduce Douglass’s work to various generations of readers.

Related:

• A Notebook on Frederick Douglass 

• Versions of Frederick Douglass's Narrative (2025)

• Editions of Frederick Douglass's Narrative (2023)

• The Many Editions of Frederick Douglass's Narrative (2021)

• From Richard Wright to Frederick Douglass (2020)

• Deborah E. McDowell's Crucial Introduction to Frederick Douglass's Narrative (2019)

• Book History and Frederick Douglass's Narrative (2014)