James Baldwin: A Short Biography

Jana Evans Braziel, Assistant Professor
229B Mc Micken Hall
Department of English and Comparative Literature
University of Cincinnati
ML 210069
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0069
Office # (513) 556-0834
Fax # (513) 556-5960
jana.braziel@uc.edu
evans_braziel@hotmail.com

James Baldwin: Biography and Bibliography

Excerpted from Lisa Rosset, James Baldwin. Danbury, CT: Grolier, Inc. by Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.

Bibliography -- Works by Baldwin

1953 Go Tell It on the Mountain (autobiographical novel)

1955 Notes of a Native Son (essays)

1956 Giovanniís Room (novel)

1961 Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (essays)

1962 Another Country (novel)

1963 The Fire Next Time (essays)

1964 Blues for Mister Charlie (play); Nothing Personal, with Richard Avedon (photoessay).

1965 Going to Meet the Man (short stories)

1968 The Amen Corner (play); Tell Me How Long the Trainís Been Gone (novel)

1969 Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism (essays)

1971 A Rap on Race, with Margaret Mead (essays).

1972 No Name in the Street (essays); One Day When I was Lost (essays)

1973 A Dialogue, with Nikki Giovanni.

1974 If Beale Street Could Talk (novel)

1976 The Devil Finds Work (essays)

1979 Just Above My Head (last novel)

1986 The Evidence of Things Not Seen (journalistic essay on Atlanta murders of black children)

1987 Work in progress when he died: A triple biography of the lives of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers

Biography

1924 Born James Arthur Baldwin in Harlem, New York, on August 2

1930 Enters Public School 24

1937 Becomes editor in chief of Douglas Pilot at Frederick Douglass Junior High School (studied French and writing with Countee Cullen)

1938 Becomes a preacher at Fireside Pentacostal Assembly (at the age of 14)

1942 Graduates from De Witt Clinton High School (where he began life-long friendships with Richard Avedon and Emile Gapouya

1943 Moves to Greenwich Village in New York (19 years of age)

1944 Wins the Eugene F. Saxton Memorial Trust Award

1945 First book review is published

1948 First major essay, "The Harlem Ghetto," is published; wins a Julius Rosenwald fellowship; moves to Paris (24 years of age)

1953 First novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, is published (29 years of age)

1956 First book of non-fiction, Notes of a Native Son, is published (31 years of age)

1957 Returns to New York; makes first trip to the South and meets the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

1962 Meets with Elijah Muhammad

1963 The Fire Next Time is published; meets with U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy

1964 Baldwin elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters

1979 Revisits the South as a journalist

1984-7 Holds lectureships and professorships in the United States at various universities, including the University of Massachusetts-Amherst

1986 Receives the Legion of Honor from the French government

1987 Dies in St. Paul de Vence, France, on December 1 (63 years of age)

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1953	Go Tell It on the Mountain (autobiographical novel)
1955	Notes of a Native Son (essays)
1956	Giovanniís Room (novel)
1961	Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (essays)
1962	Another Country (novel)
1963	The Fire Next Time (essays)
1964	Blues for Mister Charlie (play); Nothing Personal, with Richard Avedon (photoessay).
1965	Going to Meet the Man (short stories)
1968	The Amen Corner (play); Tell Me How Long the Trainís Been Gone (novel)
1969	Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism (essays)
1971	A Rap on Race, with Margaret Mead (essays).
1972	No Name in the Street (essays); One Day When I was Lost (essays)
1973	A Dialogue, with Nikki Giovanni.
1974	If Beale Street Could Talk (novel)
1976	The Devil Finds Work (essays)
1979	Just Above My Head (last novel)
1986	The Evidence of Things Not Seen (journalistic essay on Atlanta murders of black children)
1987	Work in progress when he died: A triple biography of the lives of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers

1924	Born James Arthur Baldwin in Harlem, New York, on August 2
1930	Enters Public School 24
1937	Becomes editor in chief of Douglas Pilot at Frederick Douglass Junior High School (studied French and writing with Countee Cullen)
1938	Becomes a preacher at Fireside Pentacostal Assembly (at the age of 14)
1942	Graduates from De Witt Clinton High School (where he began life-long friendships with Richard Avedon and Emile Gapouya
1943	Moves to Greenwich Village in New York (19 years of age)
1944	Wins the Eugene F. Saxton Memorial Trust Award
1945	First book review is published
1948	First major essay, "The Harlem Ghetto," is published; wins a Julius Rosenwald fellowship; moves to Paris (24 years of age)
1953	First novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, is published (29 years of age)
1956	First book of non-fiction, Notes of a Native Son, is published (31 years of age)
1957	Returns to New York; makes first trip to the South and meets the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
1962	Meets with Elijah Muhammad
1963	The Fire Next Time is published; meets with U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
1964	Baldwin elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters
1979	Revisits the South as a journalist
1984-7	Holds lectureships and professorships in the United States at various universities, including the University of Massachusetts-Amherst
1986	Receives the Legion of Honor from the French government
1987	Dies in St. Paul de Vence, France, on December 1 (63 years of age)