Savoring the Salt: The Legacy of Toni Cade Bambara

InSavoring the Salt, a host of poets, scholars, writers, political activists and filmmakers recall Toni Cade Bambara, a woman whose voice and vision played a vital role in shaping African American culture in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Bambara's multifaceted career took off with the publication of her collection of stories,Gorilla, My Lovein 1972 and ended abruptly with her death in 1995. In that short time, she produced an extraordinary body of work - more stories, a novel, a book of non-fiction, a documentary film - and remained dedicated to teaching and political work. The book examines these aspects of Bambara's life and work; each section begins with an excerpt from her writings, some unpublished until now. The notable contributors - Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, Pearl Cleage, Ruby Dee, Bevery Guy-Sheftall, Nikki Giovanni, Avery Gordon, Audre Lorde, and Sonia Sanchez - offer insights into her work, celebrations of her indomitable spirit, and assessments of her enduring influence.Savoring the Saltis a book for her loyal readers and for those coming to her work for the first time.

Linda Janet Holmes is a writer, independent scholar, and activist. She is also co-author of Listen To Me Good: The Life Story of an Alabama Midwife.



Cheryl A. Wall is Professor of English at Rutgers University, and the author of Worrying the Line: Black Women Writers, Lineage, and Literary Tradition, and Women of the Harlem Renaissance. She is the editor of The Writings of Zora Neale Hurston (2 volumes) and Changing Our Own Words: Criticism, Theory, and Writing by Black Women.