Gloria Naylor, The Two

Shamael Muhammad (University of Akron)
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Like many late-twentieth century Black female authors, Gloria Naylor cited Toni Morrison as a primary inspiration and source of empowerment for telling stories of remarkable Black women. After reading Morrison’s 1970 novel

The Bluest Eye

, Naylor committed herself to an art that would sympathetically examine the complex, unique circumstances of women disadvantaged because of both race and gender.

Naylor’s first publication, a short story in Essence magazine in 1980, was noticed by an editor at Viking Press who offered the thirty-year-old author a book contract and urged her to expand her debut manuscript. By 1982, the stage was set for The Women of Brewster Place, a collection of seven stories that separately explore and analyze a diverse cast of Black women living in low-income urban

3011 words

Citation: Muhammad, Shamael. "The Two". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 May 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40540, accessed 31 October 2024.]

40540 The Two 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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