Paule Marshall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Paule Marshall
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Paule Marshall
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| Born |
Valenza Pauline Burke
April 9, 1929 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
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| Died | August 12, 2019 (aged 90) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Hunter College, City University of New York |
| Occupation | Writer |
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Notable work
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Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959); The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969); Praisesong for the Widow (1983) |
Paule Marshall (born April 9, 1929 – died August 12, 2019) was an important American writer. She is best known for her first novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, published in 1959. In 1992, she received a special award called the MacArthur Fellowship, which is a grant given to talented people.
Contents
Paule Marshall's Early Life and Writing Career
Paule Marshall was born Valenza Pauline Burke in Brooklyn, New York, on April 9, 1929. Her parents were Adriana Viola Clement Burke and Sam Burke. Her father had moved to New York in 1919 from the Caribbean island of Barbados. When Paule was a child, her father left the family, and her mother raised the children alone.
Marshall often said that her mother and her friends inspired her writing. She watched how they used language to feel better and stronger after a hard day. She felt that language helped them deal with a world that was sometimes difficult. When she was about 12 or 13, she loved the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar so much that she changed her name from Pauline to Paule.
Education and First Steps as a Writer
Paule Marshall went to Bushwick High School. Then, she enrolled in Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. She first planned to become a social worker. However, she got sick and took a year off from college. During that time, she decided to study English Literature instead.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Brooklyn College in 1953. She then got her master's degree at Hunter College in 1955. After finishing college, Marshall wrote for Our World. This was a well-known magazine for African-American readers. She said that writing for the magazine taught her how to be disciplined, which helped her write her first novel.
In 1950, she married Kenneth Marshall, a psychologist. They later divorced in 1963. In the 1970s, she married Nourry Menard, a businessman from Haiti.
Paule Marshall's Books and Awards
Early in her career, Paule Marshall wrote poetry. But she later focused on writing stories and novels. Her first novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, was published in 1959. This book tells the story of Selina Boyce, a girl growing up in a small community of Black immigrants. Selina feels torn between her mother, who wants to fit into American life, and her father, who wishes to return to Barbados. The book explores themes like travel, moving to a new place, and finding your true self. These ideas were also important in her later books.
Major Works and Recognition
In 1961, Marshall received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which is a special award for artists and scholars. In the same year, she published Soul Clap Hands and Sing. This was a collection of four short novels that won her the National Institute of Arts Award.
In 1965, the famous writer Langston Hughes chose her to travel the world with him. They read their works on a tour sponsored by the United States Department of State. This trip was very helpful for her career.
She then published the novels The Chosen Place, the Timeless People in 1969. The New York Times Book Review called it "one of the four or five most impressive novels ever written by a black American." Her novel Praisesong for the Widow (1983) won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1984. In 2021, this book was reissued with a new introduction by Opal Palmer Adisa.
Teaching and Later Life
Paule Marshall taught at several universities, including Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of California, Berkeley, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and Yale University. She also held a special position at New York University. In 1993, she received an honorary degree from Bates College. She lived in Richmond, Virginia.
She was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow and won the Dos Passos Prize for Literature. The New York Public Library named her a Literary Lion in 1994. In 2001, she was honored at the Celebrity Path at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Her memoir, Triangular Road, which is a book about her own life, was published in 2009. In 2010, Paule Marshall received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. She passed away in Richmond, Virginia, on August 12, 2019. She had been living with dementia in her later years. A biography about her, written by Mary Helen Washington, is being prepared by Yale University Press.
Paule Marshall's Books
- Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959)
- Soul Clap Hands and Sing (four short novels; 1961)
- The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969)
- Reena and Other Stories (1983)
- Praisesong for the Widow (1983) (Reissued 2021, McSweeney's; hardcover ISBN: 978-1-952-11904-0), with an introduction by Opal Palmer Adisa.)
- Merle: A Novella, and Other Stories (1985)
- Daughters (1991)
- The Fisher King: A Novel (2001)
- Triangular Road: A Memoir (2009)
Paule Marshall's Thoughts on Writing
Paule Marshall once said: "I know it's popular now to say that traditional novels are old-fashioned, but for me, they are still very important. They allow for the kind of rich, detailed writing that I love. They also let me explore many different layers and look at both the inner feelings of my characters and the worlds around them."
See also
In Spanish: Paule Marshall para niños
