Black April — A Novel

Julia Peterkin pioneered in demonstrating the literary potential for serious depictions of the African American experience. Rejecting the prevailing sentimental stereotypes of her times, she portrayed her black characters with sympathy and understanding, endowing them with the full dimensions of human consciousness. In these novels and stories, she tapped the richness of rural southern black culture and oral traditions to capture the conflicting realities in an African American community and to reveal a grace and courage worthy of black pride.

Julia Peterkin (1880-1961) was the author of three novels, a collection of short stories, and, with photographer Doris Ulmann, a nonfiction collection of essays entitled Roll, Jordan, Roll. She was the first South Carolinian to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize.