Kevin Anthony Brown

Published Book for Review Consideration: Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance: A Personal History I was hesitant to create a duplicate pose. Please share this information about my book on your African American Literature Discussion Forum, where appropriate. Author Name=Kevin Anthony Brown Book Title=Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance: A Personal History ISBN13=ISBN: 978-1-64317-427-3 (paperback); 978-1-64317-428-0 (PDF); 978-1; 64317-429-7 (EPUB) Publication Date=16 July 2024 Book Cover Image=please see attachment Synopsis: = = = Raymond N. MacKenzie’s description of Balzac’s Lost Illusions applies equally well to Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance: A Personal History: “Whole family stories emerge across all these works, and the history, politics, and social relations of France are explored and analyzed from what seems like an endless series of varying angles. And allowing the reader to see these numerous characters from different perspectives, sometimes in the background, sometimes in the foreground, and in different situations at different points in their lives, gives them a depth that is unrivaled in fiction.” At least twenty-four characters occur and recur in Kevin Brown’s essay-cycle based on his maternal great-grandmother's marriage to Countée Cullen. Many of these characters are outrageous even by Balzac's standards. Brown’s personal history is based on biographies, letters, memoirs, newspaper archives and scores of other sources about Ida Cullen-Cooper and Countée Cullen by members of their circle and others between the 1920s and 1960s. What People Are Saying “Terrific. It sparkles and snaps like some great jazz riffs, and the personal aspect is very touching.” — Sir Stephen Hough “Like a good jazz player, Kevin Brown riffs with verve and muscle and without wasting a note. The entwined meditations in this book—on his relationship with his great-grandmother Ida Mae Cullen-Cooper (Countée Cullen’s widow) and on the Harlem literati that informed his own literary development—range widely, touching on artists from bluesman Robert Johnson to essayist James Baldwin. Astute and often daring, they offer a fresh and stimulating perspective on African American creativity in the twentieth century.” — Yuval Taylor, author of Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal Biography of Kevin Brown Author, essayist, literary translator and reviewer Kevin Anthony Brown was born 3 September 1960, in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the City University of New York. Kevin A. Brown is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. He currently lives in San Diego. Further info about the author is available at Kevin Anthony Brown - Official Website = = = Book Note National Book Critics Circle member Kevin Anthony Brown’s Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance: A Personal History was published by Parlor Press on 16 July 2024. It is available for order here: https://parlorpress.com/products/countee-cullens-harlem-renaissance. Reviewers interested in receiving a copy can request one here: https://parlorpress.com/pages/request-review-copy. = = = Contributor’s Note Kevin A. Brown’s articles, essays, interviews and reviews on the literary arts, the performing arts, the art of translation and the visual arts have appeared in Afterimage, American Book Review, Asymptote, The Brooklyn Rail, The Chattahoochee Review, Fiction International, The Georgia Review, Kirkus Reviews, The Nation, Poetry Foundation, Rain Taxi, Salmagundi, The Threepenny Review, The Times Literary Supplement and Washington Post Bookworld, among others.