A literary event—selected and previously uncollected fiction by the woman who was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance. When Dorothy West died in 1998, she was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance, a contemporary of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright. Popular history holds that between the publication of her two novels (The Living is Easy in 1948 and The Wedding in 1995), Dorothy West fell silent. In fact, there was never a time in Dorothy West's life in which she was not writing and publishing. The Last Leaf of Harlem gathers West's writing from these supposedly silent years--syndicated fiction in the New York Daily News, pieces for the Work Progress Administration's Federal Writer's Project, and publications in small journals and magazines--along with known and beloved pieces by this extraordinary writer. Many of these stories, describing and exploring marriage, loss, family life, and poverty were lost until now. The Last Leaf of Harlem brings together the almost-forgotten pieces of Dorothy West's lifework, and gives the reader a fresh look into a remarkable writer and career. DOROTHY WEST was born in Boston circa 1908. At her death in 1998, she was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance. Her works include: The Living is Easy, The Wedding, and The Richer, The Poorer. LIONEL C. BASCOM is a professor of English at Western Connecticut State University. A long-time investigative journalist, Bascom has specialized lately in the discovery of forgotten or neglected literary manuscripts by early 20th Century African-Americans, black folklore and stories about black culture in the United States. He is the editor of A Renaissance in Harlem and lives in Danbury, Connecticut.

ドロシー・ウェストが「沈黙」していたとされる半世紀の間に紡がれた本作は、ハーレム・ルネサンスの気高き魂が息づく珠玉の短編集です。彼女が描くのは、単なる貧困や差別といった外面的な苦難ではありません。家族、愛、そして喪失という普遍的なドラマを、黒人中産階級の矜持と繊細な心理描写を通して鮮やかに抉り出しています。 テキストの端々から溢れ出すのは、時代の激流に翻弄されながらも気高く生きる人々の「声」です。長年忘れ去られていたこれらの断片は、鋭い観察眼と温かな共感が同居する文学的発見に満ちています。一人の偉大な作家の生涯が壮大なタペストリーとして完成する——その瞬間に立ち会うような震えるほどの昂揚感を、ぜひ肌で感じてください。