Chapter 8 - Closing Doors

Baldwin wrote several entries in the Spring 1941 issue of the Magpie, including a poem titled "Closing Doors."  Aldo suggests that the poem is about lost opportunity.  Dr. Roberts discusses how James Baldwin's early poems allow us to view and examine Baldwin in a light that adds to his global recognition as a novelist and essayist. 

"Closing Doors" is performed by Elena from 3B

Episode References:
Richard Avedon
Iambic Pentameter
Poetry Is Not A Luxury by Audre Lorde
Hilton Als
God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin
Jimmy's Blues

Further Reading:
Books by James Baldwin
The Furious Passage of James Baldwin by Fern M. Eckman
James Baldwin: A Biography  by David Leeming
Talking At The Gates: by James Campbell
Begin Again by Eddie Glaude, Jr.
Baldwin's Harlem by Herb Boyd
James Baldwin: Artist on Fire by W.J. Weatherby
James Baldwin: Living in Fire by Bill V. Mullen
The Castle on the Parkway by G. Pelisson and J.  Garvey

Finding James Baldwin on Instagram
Finding James Baldwin Youtube

Learn more about Dr. Frank Leon Roberts at Amherst.edu

More podcasts by Aldo B. Martin:
The Reclamation
The Fatherhood Project
YALD. The Podcast
Jammin' on the One
So...Tell Me About Your Podcast

Finding James Baldwin: The Magpie Years Podcast is
Researched by Dr. Frank Leon Roberts and Aldo B. Martin
Performed by Elena from 3B and Tina E.
Edited by Aldo B. Martin
Produced by Aldo B. Martin