Wesley Brown (writer)

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Wesley Brown
Born1945 (age 79–80)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Writer, playwright and professor
Notable workTragic Magic (1978)

Wesley Brown (born 1945) [1] is an American writer, playwright, and professor. [2] [3] He is best known for his books Tragic Magic and Darktown Strutters. [4]

Tragic Magic, Brown's first novel, published in 1978, received strong reviews. Kirkus Reviews wrote that Brown's "sentences end in unexpected pretzels, they blurt and croon; his gift is improvisatory and brassy." [5] James W. Coleman, writing in Black American Literature Forum , thought that Brown did "a brilliant job of maintaining the tension and vitality of the novel's language, which is a genuine tour de force." [6] The novel, which follows a young man recently released from prison for refusing military induction, has been described as a "jazz-narrative". [7] [8] Tragic Magic was edited by Toni Morrison at Random House. [9] The book was reissued in hardcover by McSweeney's in 2021, part of the publisher's "Of the Diaspora" series spotlighting important works in Black literature.

In 1994, Brown released his second novel, about a minstrel show performer. [10] The New York Times praised Darktown Strutters, writing that by "combining the simple prose of a folk tale with the meta-psychology of a philosopher, Wesley Brown has created a vivid, disturbing work of the historical imagination." [11] Life During Wartime, Brown's 1992 play, was called a "complex, intelligent and thought-provoking drama" by The New York Times. [12]

He has served as a judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award. [13]

Brown has taught at Rutgers University and Bard College at Simon's Rock. [14] [15]

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Wesley Brown - Book Reading And Conversation With Ben Ratleff". NYU Arts and Science. December 8, 2022.
  2. ↑ Jones, Patricia Spears (October 1, 2009). "Wesley Brown's Push Comes to Shove by Patricia Spears Jones - BOMB Magazine". bombmagazine.org.
  3. ↑ Benjamin, Richard M. (1995). "Tenured Black Professors in the English Department of the Nation's 25 Highest-Ranked Universities". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (8): 79–82. JSTOR   2963059.
  4. ↑ Coleman, James W. (January 13, 2015). Black Male Fiction and the Legacy of Caliban. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN   9780813158686 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "TRAGIC MAGIC by Wesley Brown | Kirkus Reviews". October 1, 1978. Retrieved August 16, 2025– via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  6. ↑ James W., Coleman (1981). "Language, Reality, and Self in Wesley Brown's Tragic Magic". Black American Literature Forum. 15 (2): 48–50. doi:10.2307/2904080. JSTOR   2904080.
  7. ↑ Brown, Wesley (November 23, 1978). Tragic Magic. Random House. ISBN   9780394502243 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Hawkins-Dady, Mark (December 6, 2012). Reader's Guide to Literature in English. Routledge. ISBN   9781135314170 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Beaulieu, Elizabeth Ann (November 23, 2003). The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   9780313316999 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Brown, Wesley (November 23, 1994). Darktown Strutters. Cane Hill Press. ISBN   9780943433110 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Fleming, Thomas (March 6, 1994). "Hit the Ground Dancing". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ Gates, Anita (April 14, 1998). "THEATER REVIEW; The Volatile Search for Truth and Blame". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ Suplee, Curt (April 12, 1982). "Literary License" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  14. ↑ "Brown, Wesley". english.rutgers.edu.
  15. ↑ "Wesley Brown | Bard College at Simon's Rock". simons-rock.edu.
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