Pearl Cleage

Pearl Cleage

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Pearl Cleage

"The purpose of my writing, often, is to express the point where racism and sexism meet." An accomplished playwright, journalist, poet, and novelist, Pearl Cleage probes issues of race, sex, and love in a growing body of literary work while she reveals poignant truths about brave black women.

Born on December 7, 1948 in Springfield, Massachusetts, Pearl Michelle Cleage grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Her father was a prominent minister who ran for governor of Michigan in 1962 on the Freedom Ticket; her mother was an elementary school teacher.

Since the early 1980s, Cleage has drawn national attention with her dramatic works, which include Flyin' West, an extraordinary play about pioneer black women at the turn of the century, and Blues for an Alabama Sky. Her first novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, was an Oprah's Book Club selection, a New York Times bestseller, and a BCALA Literary Award winner. She is also the author of I Wish I Had a Red Dress, Mad at Miles, and Deals with the Devil. A contributing editor to Essence magazine, Pearl Cleage frequently performs her work on college campuses. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Zaron W. Burnett, Jr.

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Seen It All and Done the Rest: A Novel
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: One World/Ballantine (March 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345481127

From this New York Times and #1 Essence Bestselling Author Comes a Delicious Novel about Celebrity and Scandal!

The toast of Europe, Josephine Evans had spent thirty years abroad establishing her reputation as one of the finest actresses of her generation. In Amsterdam, she redefined who and what an African American diva could be, and her legions of loyal fans loved her for it. But when a war she didn't even understand suddenly makes her the target of angry anti-American protests, Josephine is forced to return to America to see if she can find a new definition of home. Camping out with her granddaughter in Atlanta's West End, Josephine tries to reclaim her old life even as she scrambles to shape her new one. An unexpected reunion with an old friend, Abbie Allen Browning, soon offers her a chance to set things right. Rallying with Abbie against an unscrupulous land developer who threatens to tear the community apart, Josephine finds herself playing the most important role of her life.

We Speak Your Names: A Celebration
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with Zaron W. Burnett

ISBN: 0345490274
Format: Hardcover, 64pp
Pub. Date: April 11, 2006
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

An AALBC.com Bestselling Book

For centuries, African American women have been remaking the world, giving testament to the power of hope, courage, and resilience. But it took the inspired generosity of Oprah Winfrey to honor fully the many gifts of sisterhood. For three amazing days–from May 13 to 15, 2005–a distinguished group of women was invited to celebrate the enduring achievements of twenty-five of their mentors and role models–and in the process pay tribute to the long, glorious tradition of African American accomplishment.

The brilliant centerpiece of the weekend was the reading aloud of Pearl Cleage’s poem “We Speak Your Names,” written especially for the occasion and appearing here for the first time in this beautiful keepsake book. As deeply moving in print as it was during that weekend of love and praise, the poem names each of the women honored: Dr. Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Diahann Carroll, Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Parks, Katherine Dunham, and other legends of the brightest magnitude. With heartfelt eloquence, Pearl Cleage (herself a luminary of the younger generation) celebrates her distinguished elders’ strength, their magic, their sensuality, their loving kindness, their faith in themselves, and the priceless example of their lives. In her introduction, the poet shares: “My sisters, here, there, and everywhere, this poem is for you. Use it, adapt it, pass it on. . . .”

Destined to become a classic, We Speak Your Names is a treasure to keep forever and a precious, inspiring gift for the ones you love.

Baby Brother's Blues
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ISBN: 0345481100
Format: Hardcover, 288pp
Pub. Date: February 28, 2006
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

When Regina Burns married Blue Hamilton, she knew he was no ordinary man. A charismatic R&B singer who gave up his career to assume responsibility for the safety of Atlanta's West End community, Blue had created an African American urban oasis where crime and violence were virtually nonexistent. In the beginning, Regina enjoyed a circle of engaging friends and her own work as a freelance communications consultant. Most of all, she relished the company of her husband, who never ceased to be a source of passion and delight.

Then everything changed. More and more frightened women were showing up in West End, seeking Blue's protection from lovers who had suddenly become violent. When the worst offenders begin to disappear without a trace, the signs-all of them grim-seem to point toward Blue and his longtime associate, Joseph "General" Richardson. Now that Regina is pregnant, her fear for Blue's safety has become an obsession that threatens the very heart of their relationship.

At the same time, Regina's friend Aretha Hargrove is desperately trying to redefine her own marriage. Aretha's husband, Kwame, is lobbying for them to leave West End and move to midtown. Aretha resists at first, but finally agrees in an effort to rekindle the flame that first brought them together.

Regina and Aretha have no way of knowing that what they regard as their private struggles will soon become very public. When Baby Brother, a charming con man, insinuates himself into the community, it becomes clear that there is more to his handsome façade than meets the eye. He carries the seeds of change that will affect both women in profound and startling ways.

Returning to the vividly rendered Atlanta district of her last two novels, New York Times bestselling author Pearl Cleage brilliantly weaves the threads of her characters' intersecting lives into a story of family, friendship and, of course, love. Baby Brother's Blues is full of wit and warmth, illumination the core of every woman's hopes and dreams.

Babylon Sisters
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ISBN: 0345456092
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: March 2005
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Read an Book Review of Babylon Sisters

Catherine Sanderson seems to have it all: a fulfilling career helping immigrant women find jobs, a lovely home, and a beautiful, intelligent daughter on her way to Smith College. What Catherine doesn't have: a father for her child- and she's spent many years dodging her daughter's questions about it. Now Phoebe is old enough to start poking around on her own. It doesn't help matters that the mystery man, B.J. Johnson-the only man Catherine has ever loved-doesn't even know about Phoebe. He's been living in Africa.

Now B.J., a renowned newspaper correspondent, is back in town and needs Catherine's help cracking a story about a female slavery ring operating right on the streets of Atlanta. Catherine is eager to help B.J., despite her heart's uncertainty over meeting him again after so long, and confessing the truth to him-and their daughter.

Meanwhile, Catherine's hands are more than full since she's taken on a new client. Atlanta's legendary Miss Mandeville-a housekeeper turned tycoon-is eager to have Catherine staff her housekeeping business. But why are the steely Miss Mandeville and her all-too-slick sidekick Sam so interested in Catherine's connection to B.J.? What transpires is an explosive story that takes her world-not to mention the entire city of Atlanta-by storm.

From the New York Times bestselling author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day . . . comes another fast-paced and emotionally resonant novel, by turns warm and funny, serious and raw. Pearl Cleage's ability to create a gripping story centered on strong, spirited black women and the important issues they face remains unrivaled.

Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do
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ISBN: 0345456068
Format: Hardcover, 273pp
Pub. Date: August 2003
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated

Depending on the time of day, Regina Burns is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown or an overdue breakthrough. One shattered heart and six months of rehab have left her wary and shell-shocked - especially with the prospect of taking a temporary consulting job in Atlanta, a move that would allow Regina to rescue the family home that she borrowed against when she was "a stomp down dope fiend." Her stone-faced banker has grudgingly agreed to give her sixty days to settle her debts or lose the house.

Returning to Atlanta is a big risk. Last time Regina was there, she lost track of who she was and what she wanted. There's a lot of emotional baggage with her new employer, Beth Davis. Can she really forgive Beth for breaking up her wedding plans on New Year's Eve because she just didn't think Regina was good enough to marry her son?

Meanwhile, Regina's visionary Aunt Abbie has told her to be on the lookout for a handsome stranger with "the ocean in his eyes" who has a bone to pick and a promise to keep. Then a blue-eyed brother appears on the streets of Afro-Atlanta wearing a black cashmere overcoat, flashing a dazzling smile, and lending a helping hand when Regina needs it most. But between falling for Blue Hamilton and dealing with Beth, secrets will emerge that will threaten to send Regina's life twisting in surprising new directions.

I Wish I Had A Red Dress
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Format: Hardcover, 288pp.
ISBN: 0380977338
Publisher: Morrow,William & Co
Pub. Date: June 2001

Read a Review by Thumper

Oprah Winfrey recommended Pearl Cleage's previous novel to her vast television audience, and soon readers—and listeners—were reveling in the joys—and aching over the sorrows—of life in tiny Idlewild, Michigan. Now Cleage brings back the characters—but this time, Ava's big sister, Joyce, will sparkle. Unlike her younger sister, Joyce has never been flamboyant; has never owned a red dress or the kind of life that goes along with it. But now, after many years of selfless service to others, she feels it's time to do something special for herself—especially since there's the unmistakable hint of romance on the wind…

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
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Publisher: Avon Books
Date Published: September 1998
Format: Trade Paper

Oprah's Book Club selection, a New York Times bestseller, and a BCALA Literary Award winner

As a girl growing up in Idlewild, Michigan, Ava Johnson had always heard that, if you were young, black, and had any sense at all, Atlanta was the place to be. So as soon as she was old enough and able enough, that was where she went -- parlaying her smarts and her ambition into one of the hottest hair salons in town.

In no time, she was moving with the brothers and sisters who had beautiful clothes, big cars, bigger dreams, and money in the bank. Now, after more than a decade of elegant pleasures and luxe living, Ava has come home, her fabulous career and power plans smashed to bits on one dark truth. Ava Johnson has tested positive for HIV. And she's back in little Idlewild to spend a quiet summer with her widowed sister, Joyce, before moving on to finish her life in San Francisco, the most HIV-friendly place she can imagine. But what she thinks is the end is only the beginning because there's too much going down in her hometown for Ava to ignore. There's the Sewing Circus -- sister Joyce's determined effort to educate Idlewild's young black women about sex, drugs, pregnancy, whatever...despite the interference of the good Reverend Anderson and his most virtuous, "just say no" wife. Plus Joyce needs a helping hand to make a loving home for Imani, an abandoned crack baby whom she's taken into her heart. And then there's Wild Eddie, whose legendary background in violence combined with his Eastern gentility has stirred Ava's interest...and something more.

Deals with the Devil: And Other Reasons to Riot
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ISBN: 0345382781
Format: Hardcover, 304pp
Pub. Date: July 1993
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Cleage's powerful and provocative African-American feminist perspective will touch an even wider audience in this paperback edition--featuring three new essays. Her pieces discussing politics, culture, mass media, emotional and physical survival are equal parts eloquence and anger, challenging readers to see that the personal and the political are one.

Dead on, to the point, fearless. A third-generation black nationalist feminist, Pearl Cleage recognizes the pure power of telling the truth — about African-American life and about the fate of the race in racist America. This book will incite any and all thinking people to ponder, argue, rage, reflect, and maybe even riot . . . .

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife
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Carleen Brice Editor & Pearl Cleage Contributor

ISBN: 0807028231
Number Of Pages: 252
Publication Date: May 15, 2003
Publisher: Beacon Press

"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is my roadmap."—Iyanla Vanzant

Forty-five black women writers—known and new—discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind.

Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.

Midlife today isn't your grandmother's "change of life." Today, black women call hot flashes "power surges," and menopause, the "pause that refreshes." These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the "return-to-the-nest syndrome" as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.

This anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring
the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift
book for spring.