-Gloria Naylor

Imagined places are central to Naylor’s work, with each novel taking place in a different nonexistent locale. Her first work, The Women of Brewster Place takes place on a cul-de-sac of an unnamed city, which has been separated from the rest of the city by a wall. Brewster Place is imagined as a poorer section of the city that was the home of immigrants and African-Americans. Her second work, Linden Hills, imagines a more affluent African-American neighborhood that is modeled on Hell from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Mama Day, Naylor’s third novel, primarily takes place on the imaginary island of Willow Springs, off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Her fourth novel, Bailey's Cafe, is set in an imaginary and seemingly supernatural cafe that moves to locations where it is needed most, with patrons from different times and places. As a Black woman, Naylor explored different aspects of African-American women including their history, sexuality, and place in communities. In 2019, Gloria Naylor’s papers were loaned by Sacred Hearth University to Lehigh where, through a Lehigh Accelerator Grant, they are being described and digitized. Lehigh will be hosting a symposium on Naylor’s work in 2021.