1. About the Database

"I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as
my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my
womanness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable."
AUDRE LORDE

Targeting 100,000 pages of fiction, poetry, and essays, Black Women Writers brings together, in electronic format for the first time, the many voices of women from Africa and the African Diaspora. Facing both sexism and racism, these authors have had to create their own identities and movements. This collection documents that effort from its earliest beginnings.

Black Women Writers includes works from three continents with a wide range of cultures, thereby offering a finely nuanced perspective of a group facing issues that, taken together, are unique to this literature.

We have targeted writers from over 20 countries in Africa, North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Our bibliography is still growing and we have already licensed works by Nikki Giovanni, Maryse Condé, Angela Davis, Rhoda Reddock, Margaret Walker, Ama Ata Aidoo, Rosa Guy, Sonia Sanchez, Olive Senior, and Barbara Ransby, among others. As with other Alexander Street Press databases, we will gather rare and previously unpublished materials, such as manuscripts, pamphlets, and historical feminist periodicals.

"Words had an energy and power
and I came to respect that power early."
AUDRE LORDE

Given the diverse backgrounds and cultural heritages represented by the authors, these texts have much to teach us. I am grateful for the opportunity to work on a project that will prove to be indispensable for anyone researching in this area.

Black Women Writers is part of the Alexander Street Literature package, which enables researchers to explore the rich literary heritage of diverse cultures from across the globe. New content is added on a biweekly basis, and exciting new materials will be highlighted on the home page, so please check the site often!

Isabel Lacerda
Editor

2. Editorial Criteria

We consulted many critical works to create this collection, including the following bibliographies:

• Post Colonial African Writers. Ed. Pushpa Naidu Parekh & Siga Fatima Jagne. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998.
• Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African Writers. First series. Ed. Bernth Lindfors & Reinhard Sander. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992.
• Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African Writers. Second series. Ed. Bernth Lindfors & Reinhard Sander. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1993.
• Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African Writers. Third series. Ed. Bernth Lindfors & Reinhard Sander. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1996.
• A Century of Fiction by American Negroes, 1853-1952: A Descriptive Bibliography. Philadelphia: Albert Saifer Publisher, 1969.
• African American Writers: A Dictionary. Ed. Shari Dorantes Hatch & Michael Strickland. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2000.
• Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean (1836-1986). By Brenda F. Berrian. Washington D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1989.
• Black American Feminisms. A Multidisciplinary Bibliography compiled by Sherri L. Barnes, Associate Librarian at University of California Santa Barbara, http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subjects/blackfeminism.

3. Acknowledgements

We'd like to thank the many individuals who are assisting us in the creation of the database. We are currently forming an editorial board, but many individuals have already given wonderful advice. In particular, I'd like to acknowledge Olive Senior, a Jamaican author who spoke at our customer breakfast at the 2006 ALA Mid-Winter Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Ms. Senior spoke about growing up in a poor country as a black woman and the need to find a way to have Voice. She was charming and moved the entire Alexander Street Press team and our guests.

At Alexander Street Press the following individuals have been instrumental in the creation of the database:

• Pat Carlson
• John Cicero
• Graham Dimmock
• Niki Dowdell
• Andrea Eastman-Mullins
• Michael Kangal
• Christina Keller
• Zoshia Minto
• Christine Murray
• Chrystal Sterling
• John G. West III
• Will Whalen
• Ning Zhu

4. Subscription and Free Trial Information

Black Women Writers is available for one-time purchase of perpetual access, or as an annual subscription. Please contact us at sales@alexanderstreet.com if you wish to begin a subscription or to request a free 30-day trial.

5. How to Contribute Materials or Comments

Our goal is to create a unique archive according to the editorial criteria expressed above. We welcome contributions from organizations and individuals, especially if you have materials that are unpublished or of unique interest. Submitting materials to our editors is easy and without obligation on your part.

• To submit materials for inclusion in Black Women Writers, please contact the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com.
• If you are a commercial publisher who would like to discuss licensing materials for inclusion in the database, please contact the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com.
• Questions and comments about the content, including errata reports, should be addressed to the Editor at editor@astreetpress.com.

6. Copyright

All materials in the database are protected under U.S. and International Copyright Law. Fair use under the law permits reproduction of single copies for personal research and private use. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of protected items requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

7. Cataloging Records

MARC records are available for this collection.