Literary Birthday – 7 July – Margaret Walker

Margaret Walker was born on 7 July 1915 and died on 30 November 1998.

Margaret Walker Quotes

1. A writer needs certain conditions in which to work and create art. She needs a piece of time; a peace of mind; a quiet place; and a private life.
2. When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book.
3. Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go.
4. The poetry of a people comes from the deep recesses of the unconscious, the irrational and the collective body of our ancestral memories.
5. …I see the country going fascist. We have been going that route a long, long time. A lot of things the country has done from its inception were fascist. But now, now I think we are in the face of a terrible fascist dictatorship.

Margaret Walker was an American novelist and poet who was one of the leading black women writers of the mid-20th century. She was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. Her notable works include the award-winning poem For My People and the novel, Jubilee. Walker was inducted into The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in 2014.

Source for photo: Schlesinger Library, RIAS, Harvard University, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Alexander_(13270304753).jpg

by Amanda Patterson
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