James Alan McPherson (1943–2016) received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his 1977 short story collection, Elbow Room. His memoir, Crabcakes, is also in the mode of a series of stories. He was born in Savannah before integration and played hooky in order to read in the “colored branch” of the local library. With DeWitt Henry he edited two works, Confronting Racial Difference and Fathering Daughters: Reflections by Men. His essay collection A Region Not Home: Reflections from Exile includes the classic “On Becoming an American Writer” and “Gravitas,” an appreciation of Ralph Ellison.
WORKS THAT HAVE APPEARED IN NARRATIVE:
- A Matter of Vocabulary, a short story, in Stories of the Week: 2018–2019
- The Story of a Scar, a short story, in Spring 2016
- Elbow Room, a review or criticism, in Fall 2011