Doris Jean Austin

Doris Jean Austin (1949 – September 1994)[1] was an American author and journalist.

Doris Jean Austin
Born1949
Mobile, Alabama, US
DiedSeptember 1994
OccupationAuthor and journalist

Early life and education

Doris Jean Austin was born in 1949 in Mobile, Alabama, in the United States. She was raised by her mother and grandmother. When she was six years old, Austin moved with her family to Jersey City, New Jersey, where she attended Lincoln High School. She was influenced to become a writer by her high school English teacher Reverend Ercell F. Webb. She was raised in a strict Baptist household, which would also serve as an inspiration for her work. She died in 1994 of liver cancer.[2]

Career

From 1989 until 1994, Austin taught workshops about fiction at Columbia University and at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center.[2][3] She co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild. She left the guild in 1994 and co-founded The New Renaissance Guild. The group was inspired by writers groups during the Harlem Renaissance. Arthur Flowers and Terry McMillan were involved in the group.[2][4] For a time she was a reporter for NBC Radio. Her work has been published in Essence, Amsterdam News, and the New York Times.[2][5]

Austin wrote one novel, After the Garden (1987).[6] The novel pulls inspiration from people that attended the Baptist church Austin attended when young. The book is about "idealism and tainted relationships".[2] Her short story, "Heirs and Orphans," is based on a character in After the Garden, and was featured in the anthology Black Southern Voices. She had additional short stories appear in Street Lights: Illuminating Tales of the Urban Black Experience, which she co-edited.[2]

Legacy

Austin was best friends with Terry McMillan.[1] In McMillan's book, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, the character Delilah was based on Austin.[4][7] Writer Carolyn Ferrell credits Austin as a mentor.[8]

References
  1. Hubbard, Kim, "On Top of Her Game", People, April 29, 1996.
  2. Fryor, Imani Lillie B., "Doris Jean Austin (1949–1994)", in Page, Yolanda Williams, Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers, Vol. 1, Greenwood Press, 2007 (ISBN 978-0-313-33429-0), pp. 23–25.
  3. Gillespie, Fern (1 September 1999). "Twentieth century black wrtiers find a voice at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center". Black Issues Book Review. Cox, Matthews & Associates. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2012.(subscription required)
  4. Millner, Denene (August 22, 1998). "Girlfriends, Thick and Thin". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2012.(subscription required)
  5. Austin, Doris Jean. "The Voyeur in the Mirror". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  6. "After the Garden – Doris Jean Austin, Author, Dutton Books" (review), Publishers Weekly, June 26, 1987.
  7. Millner, Denene (August 30, 1998). "Girlfriends Becoming A Popular Theme". Albany Times Union. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2012.(subscription required)
  8. Proper Library. Gale. 2006. Archived from the original on 2016-03-26.(subscription required)
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