Conversations with Jerry W. Ward Jr.

Jerry W. Ward Jr. (b. 1943) has published nonfiction literary criticism encyclopedias anthologies and poetry. Ward is also a highly respected scholar with a specialty in African American literature and has been recognized internationally as one of the leading experts on Richard Wright. Ward was Lawrence Durgin Professor of Literature at Tougaloo College served as a member of both the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Advisory Committee for the US Commission on Civil Rights and cofounded the Richard Wright Circle and the <i>Richard Wright Newsletter</i>. He has won numerous awards and in 2001 he was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent.<br> <i></i><br><i> Conversations with Jerry W. Ward Jr.</i> aims to add an indispensable source to American literature and African American studies. It offers an account of Ward's intelligent and thoughtful responses to questions about literature literary criticism teaching writing civil rights Black aesthetics race and culture. Throughout the fourteen interviews collected in this volume that range from 1995 to 2021 Ward demonstrates his responsibilities as a contemporary scholar professor writer and social critic. His charming personality glimmers through these interviews which in a sense are inner views that allow us to see into his mind understand his heart and appreciate his wit.