Twentieth century black wrtiers find a voice at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center

Two generations of black writers have been mentored in genres of fiction, journalism, playwriting, screenwriting, creative writing, and poetry at New York's Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center. This conclave for emerging and established African American, Caribbean, and African writers was founded by writers Fred Hudson and Bud Schulberg in 1971. "Back in the late sixties, it was very difficult for African Americans to get their work published and produced," recalled Hudson, co-founder and artistic director. "We wanted to nurture young talent and help open doors."

During its 28-year history, FDCAC literary instructors have included noted authors such as Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright Derek Walcott, poet and biographer Quincy Troupe (Miles: The Autobiography), novelist Benilde Little (Good Hair), novelist Arthur Flowers (De Mojo Blues), and many others. Over 500 students annually attend these low-cost workshops. Several of the late Doris Jean Austin's FDCAC short-story students were published in her critically acclaimed anthology, Streetlights: Illuminating Tales of the Urban Black Experience. Currently, Martin Simmons, FDCAC administrator and Austin's co-editor, is considering FDCAC student works for his upcoming project, Dark Matter: An Anthology of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction By Black Writers.

For FDCAC, putting their students' work in print is a main objective. Several students have received publishing deals from major houses such as Doubleday, HarperCollins, Random House, and E.P. Dutton. Andrea Michelle Smith is just one example, After winning an FDCAC Writing Fellowship in 1994, her first novel, A Narrow Pit, developed at FDCAC, was purchased by Dial Press in a bidding war between four major publishing houses. The book will be published in December 2000.

Powerful voices of late 20th century black literature visibly support FDCAC. The organization's annual Black Roots Festival has attracted James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Wole Soyinka, Maya Angelou, Gordon Parks, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Terry McMillan, Paule Marshall, Chinua Achebe, and other literary powerhouses.

"In 100 years, when African Americans in the 20th century are being studied," said Hudson, "we want to make sure that there are African American writers to counteract the distortion of who we are and where we were."

Photograph (Fred Hudson and Bud Schulberg)