Letter to Mrs. Gwendolyn Brooks

Resource added
405 Nuber Avenue 
Mount Vernon, New York 10553 
February 17, 1971 



Mrs. Gwendolyn Brooks Blakely 
7428 South Evans Avenue 
Chicago, Illinois 60619 

Dear Gwendolyn: 

Since my author's copies of PANTHER MAN arrived yesterday 
afternoon while I was at CCNY, I've spent much of this day--a 
day off for me--sending copies to people who have been expect— 
ine them. Along with the one that I'm sending to you comes 
this wish that your various projects are moving along smoothly. 
The current number of BLACK WORLD mentions your JUMP BAD, a 
title that reminds me of my eighteen months in a CCC camp in 
Kansas, a f e w years ago, when I was first thrown among large 
numbers of strangers who would "jump bad" for the slightest 
of reasons. I look forward, too, to seeing your A BROADSIDE 
TREASURY. Just the other day I suggested to Therman B. O'Daniel
that he edit a "treasury" gleaned from Black critics' essays 
on Black writers as found in his journal over the years. 

I thought of your remarks last July when Ted Gross men— 
tioned recently the possibility of getting you to take on sev— 
eral students a couple of days a week in our creative writing 
program developing at CCNY. In fact, mentioned your probable 
reluctance to him. But there are good aspects, especially for 
a writer of your eminence. Probably if you could make it clear that
your main concern was saving time for working on projects of 
importance to you and to Black readers (which is my own case), 
you could hold your on—campus duties to a few hours per week. 
Your presence there, even for so short a time, would give a 
large boost to the thrust of our Open Admissions program, which 
may affect similar movements throughout America. And, should 
you risk coming to marvelous New York City weekly, my wife and 
I would be glad to provide you [*free, of course*]
with a hide—away room" in our 
house whenever you need it, where you could work without being 
disturbed by any living creature. Since Jimmy is away at Brown 
University, it is very quiet around here (for his first—semester 
grades be received A in history, B in French, "satisfactory" 
[vs. "no credit" possibility] in anthropology, and "incomplete"-- 
which he disputes--in Black literature, a class in which he says 
the teacher failed gave incompletes to [*left as it was*] 
almost a third of the class). 
 
 Must write Don soon; It m sure he's hard at work on DYNAMITE
voices, book two. I might do some prose for his press. 

Cordially , 
Encl: PM
       [signature - Jim Emanuel]

Full description

Typed letter from James Emanuel to Gwendolyn Brooks, dated February 17, 1971, where he asks her to lead writing workshops at CCNY (City College of New York).

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  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    21 MB
  • container title
    James A. Emanuel Papers
  • creator
    James A. Emanuel
  • issue
    Box 1 Folder 12
  • rights
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • rights holder
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • version
    17-Feb-71