In 1963, Baldwin’s words electrified the world as The Fire Next Time ricocheted across the Atlantic and beyond, following the publication of two essays that comprise it in The Progressive and The New Yorker the year before: “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” and “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind”. While the huge sales of this book and its presence on bestseller lists solidified Baldwin’s stature as one of the most prominent writers and intellectuals in the United States, its praises and critiques re-cast his reputation in deepened racialized tones. As F.W. Dupee proclaimed in the New York Review of Books, “As a writer of polemical essa

This article in full comprises 1662 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

Published 08 April 2004

Citation: Zaborowska, Magdalena J.. "The Fire Next Time". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 April 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=857, accessed 9 February 2010.]