James Baldwin (1) (1924–1987)
Author of Go Tell It on the Mountain
For other authors named James Baldwin, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, in New York. Baldwin's father was a pastor who subjected his children to poverty, abuse, and religious fanaticism. As a result, many of Baldwin's recurring themes, such as alienation and rejection, are attributable to his upbringing. Living the life of a show more starving artist, Baldwin went through numerous jobs, including dishwasher, office boy, factory worker, and waiter. In 1948, he moved to France, where much work originated. Baldwin published Go Tell It on the Mountain in 1953. A largely autobiographical work, it tells of the religious awakening of a fourteen-year-old. In addition to his childhood experiences, his experiences as a black man and a homosexual provided inspiration for such works as Giovanni's Room, Nobody Knows My Name, and Another Country. Baldwin holds a distinguished place in American history as one of the foremost writers of both black and gay literature. He was an active participant in the Civil Rights movement. Baldwin succumbed to cancer on December 1, 1987. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by James Baldwin
James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the… (1998) 1,051 copies
James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain / Giovanni’s Room / Another Country / Going to… (1998) — Author — 571 copies
James Baldwin: Later Novels: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone / If Beale Street Could Talk / Just Above My… (2015) 159 copies
James Baldwin: The Last Interview: and other Conversations (The Last Interview Series) (2014) 157 copies
One Day When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1973) 117 copies
Native Sons: A Friendship that Created One of the Greatest Works of the 20th Century: Notes of a Native Son (2004) 45 copies
De mooiste verhalen van James Baldwin, John Berger, Jorge Luis Borges, Jane Bowles, Joseph Brodsky, Charles Bukowski,… (1990) 7 copies
Sonny's Blues {story} 6 copies
Revolutionary Hope: A Conversation Between James Baldwin and Audre Lorde — Author — 5 copies
Il vero delitto e l'ignoranza 4 copies
Previous Condition {story} 3 copies
Baldwin for Our Times: Writings from James Baldwin for an Age of Sorrow and Struggle (2016) 3 copies
Letter to my Nephew 3 copies
The James Baldwin Anthology 1 copy
Baldwin James 1 copy
The Rockpile {story} 1 copy
Baldwin's Nigger — Host — 1 copy
James Baldwin on Malcolm X 1 copy
Malcolm X {filmscript} 1 copy
The Man Child {story} 1 copy
Black American Writers, Bibliographical Essays, vol 2: Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin & Amiri Baraka (2017) 1 copy
Joseph, Dearest Joseph Mine 1 copy
Associated Works
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists (2004) — Contributor — 550 copies
You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories that Held Them in Awe (1994) — Contributor — 377 copies
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Contributor — 183 copies
The Actor's Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues: More Than 150 Monologues from More Than 70 Playwrights (1987) — Contributor — 178 copies
The Best Short Stories by Black Writers, 1899-1967: The Classic Anthology (1967) — Contributor — 174 copies
An American Album: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper's Magazine (2000) — Contributor — 131 copies
Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction (2002) — Contributor — 120 copies
Children of the Night: The Best Short Stories by Black Writers, 1967 to the Present (1995) — Contributor — 113 copies
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (Expanded 10th-Anniversary Edition) (2008) — Contributor — 93 copies
Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers (1996) — Contributor — 88 copies
Freedom in this Village: Twenty-Five Years of Black Gay Men's Writing (2005) — Contributor — 81 copies
The Glorious American Essay: One Hundred Essays from Colonial Times to the Present (2020) — Contributor — 81 copies
Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power and Pleasure of Reading and Writing (2018) — Contributor — 73 copies
Bearing Witness: Selections from African-American Autobiography in the Twentieth Century (1991) — Contributor — 69 copies
The Real Ebonics Debate : Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children (1998) — Contributor — 67 copies
Published and Perished: Memoria, Eulogies, and Remembrances of American Writers (2002) — Contributor — 37 copies
Democracy in Print: The best of the Progressive Magazine, 1909-2009 (2009) — Contributor — 14 copies
Fifty Years of the American Short Story from the O. Henry Awards 1919-1970 (1970) — Contributor — 13 copies
Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology (2024) — Contributor — 13 copies
Fifty Years of the American Short Story: from the O. Henry Awards 1919-1970 (Volume I) (1970) — Contributor — 3 copies
32 Współczesne Opowiadania Amerykańskie - Tom II — Contributor — 1 copy
African American History Collection, CD 2. The Negro in American Culture — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Baldwin, James
- Legal name
- Baldwin, James Arthur
- Birthdate
- 1924-08-02
- Date of death
- 1987-11-30
- Burial location
- Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, New York, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Country (for map)
- VS
- Birthplace
- Harlem, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Saint-Paul de Vence, France
- Cause of death
- cancer (stomach)
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Paris, France
Istanbul, Turkey
Saint-Paul de Vence, France - Education
- DeWitt Clinton High School, New York, New York, USA
The New School for Social Research - Occupations
- writer
public intellectual
minister - Relationships
- Wright, Richard (friend)
Malcolm X (friend)
Avedon, Richard (HS magazine collaborator)
Stein, Sol (friend) - Organizations
- National Institute of Arts and Letters
- Awards and honors
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (1956)
Rainbow Honor Walk (2014)
National LGBTQ Wall of Honor (2019)
George Polk Memorial Award (1963)
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (1986)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1954) (show all 12)
Eugene F. Saxton Memorial Trust Award (1945)
Foreign Drama Critics Award (1964)
Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship (1948)
National Conference of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Award (1962)
Partisan Review Fellowship (1956)
Ford Foundation Fellowship (1958)
Members
Discussions
Where to start with James Baldwin? in Book talk (February 2022)
James Baldwin in Legacy Libraries (March 2016)
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin in Geeks who love the Classics (August 2015)
Reviews
Lists
Five star books (3)
Overdue Podcast (2)
First Novels (1)
2017 Goal (1)
1970s (1)
Plays I Like (1)
2021 (1)
French Books (1)
Americans Abroad (1)
Best of 2014 (1)
Backlisted (1)
Schwob Nederland (1)
Books for Birute (1)
Nifty Fifties (3)
1950s (2)
Read These Too (2)
AP Lit (3)
Silent Scream (3)
Black Authors (3)
1960s (3)
Urban Fiction (3)
My TBR (2)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 103
- Also by
- 89
- Members
- 32,942
- Popularity
- #587
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 607
- ISBNs
- 860
- Languages
- 24
- Favorited
- 157