Global InformationJames Baldwin information
 | It has been suggested that James Baldwin in France be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2024. |
James Baldwin | |
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 Baldwin in 1969 | |
| Born | James Arthur Jones August 2, 1924 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 1, 1987 (aged 63) Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France |
| Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery, Westchester County, New York |
| Occupation | Writer, activist |
| Education | DeWitt Clinton High School |
| Genre |
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| Years active | 1947–1985 |
| Notable works |
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James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked among the best English-language novels.[1] His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality.[2] Baldwin was a well-known public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.[3][4][5]
Baldwin's fiction posed fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that run parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth century America, such as the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement. Baldwin's protagonists are typically but not exclusively African American, with gay and bisexual men featured prominently in his work. His characters often face internal and external obstacles in their search for self- and social acceptance: dynamics prominent in his 1956 novel Giovanni's Room.[6]
Baldwin's work continues to influence artists and writers. His unfinished manuscript Remember This House was expanded and adapted as the 2016 documentary film I Am Not Your Negro, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary. His 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, which earned widespread praise.
- ^ "All-Time 100 Novels". Time. October 16, 2005. Archived from the original on October 21, 2005.
- ^ "About the Author". Take This Hammer (American Masters). US: Channel Thirteen-PBS. November 29, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ MonkEL (August 19, 2011). "James Baldwin: The Writer and the Witness". npg.si.edu. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "James Baldwin". Poetry Foundation. January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Natividad|, Ivan (June 19, 2020). "The time James Baldwin told UC Berkeley that Black lives matter". Berkeley News. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Gounardoo, Jean-François; Rodgers, Joseph J. (1992). The Racial Problem in the Works of Richard Wright and James Baldwin. Greenwood Press. pp. 158, 148–200.