Bibliography: Literature

From eighteenth-century travel narratives to twenty-first century poetry, New Orleans and its unique racial culture has inspired academics, adventurers, and artists alike. While the city is best known for its musical heritage, the literary world is filled with work by New Orleanians and outsiders captivated by New Orleans. Literary works dramatize the racial dynamics of the city in poetry, prose, and theater as well as personal accounts, political exposés, and intentional works of fiction. New Orleans was a significant stop in slave narrative journeys and a favorite in travel literature that reported on Quadroon balls and Creole culture. Canonical American twentieth-century writers such as Charles Chesnutt and Tennessee Williams continued to interpret life in New Orleans. Academic study demonstrates the impact of the literary on New Orleans and how it has been viewed by the world outside its borders.

Bibb, Henry. “Henry Bibb, 1815-1854 Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself.,” 1849. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/bibb/menu.html.

Brown, William Wells. “William Wells Brown, 1814?-1884 Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Written by Himself.,” 1847. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brown47/menu.html.

Broyard, Bliss. One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life – A Story of Race and Family Secrets. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.  

Cable, George Washington. The Grandissimes, 1880.  

Chesnutt, Charles W. Paul Marchand, F.M.C. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.  

Christian, Marcus. “I Am New Orleans.” Literary Journal/archive, 6, 2008. http://www.nathanielturner.com/iamneworleans.htm.

Fabre, Michel. “The New Orleans Press and French-Language Literature by Creoles of Color.” In Multilingual America: Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and the Languages of American Literature, edited by Werner Sollors. NYU Press, 1998.  

Harrison, James A. “Native French Literature in Louisiana..” The Critic: a Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts, no. 187 (July 30, 1887): 49.  

“La Bibliothèque Tintamarre,” n.d. http://www.centenary.edu/french/louisiane.html.

Murder-C. Death Around the Corner. Vibe Street Lit, 2007.  

Northrup, Solomon. Solomon Northup, b. 1808 Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853., 1853. http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/northup/menu.html.  

Osbey, Brenda Marie. All Saints: New and Selected Poems. Louisiana State University Press, 1997.  

Patterson, Sunni. “We Know This Place.” American Quarterly 61, no. 3 (Fall 2009): 719-722.  

Rhodes, Jewell P. Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau. Picador, 1995.  

Rose, Chris. 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina. Simon & Schuster, 2007.  

Salaam, Kalamu ya. “from “I don’t want to live anywhere where they are killing me”.” Callaloo 29, no. 4 (2006): 1347.  

———. “Homecoming.” Free Southern Theater, 1969.

———. “Mama,” 1969.

———. The Blues Merchant Songs for Blkfolk. New Orleans, LA: BLKARTSOUTH, 1969.  

———. “The Destruction of the American Stage.” Black World 21, no. 6 (1972).  

“Sybil Kein Creole History Collection,” n.d. http://library.uno.edu/specialcollections/inventories/334.htm.

Thomas, Lynnell L. “Romance and Racism in New Orleans.” belles lettres: A Literary Review 9 (2008): 16-17.