Margaret Walker used her first novel

Born OnThisDay in 1915, poet and writer Margaret Walker used her first novel


, “Jubilee”, to craft a semi-fictional account about a biracial enslaved woman born during the American Civil War. The book took thirty years to write. Based in Georgia and Alabama, it spanned the periods of American slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Literature professor Joyce Ann Joyce has cited Jubilee as “the first truly historical black American novel.” Critical studies of the book emphasize Jubilee as the prototype for novels that present black history from a black perspective.  

Walker was born into a family of storytellers, musicians, ministers, and teachers. She first heard about slavery through bedtime stories that her maternal grandmother would tell her. As she grew older, she pushed her grandmother for more details with the intent to write stories based on what she heard. Later, she conducted extensive research on every facet of the black experience regarding the Civil War. She stated, “most of my life I have been involved with writing this story about my great-grandmother, and even if Jubilee were never considered an artistic or commercial success, I would still be happy to just finish it.” 

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