Celebrating Hotchclaw

by Ann Allen Shockley

Alice Walker (The Color Purple) wrote of Loving Her " : "In its exploration of a daring subject boldly shared I think (the novel)….enables us to see and understand, perhaps for the first time, the choices certain women have made about how they will live their lives… it offers the reader an opportunity to develop a new way of seeing and caring."

Now, from the author of that 1974 classic comes a contemporary new novel

Celebrating Hotchclaw

Hotchclaw is an HBC - Historically Black College - a survivor among the many small southern colleges that came into being after slavery to promote higher education for Black students in an era of segregation. Although struggling with financial difficulties, Hotchclaw is ready to celebrate its one hundredth anniversary.

But under the surface of the jubilation and pride there are internal conflicts - professional, psychological and sexual - among the president and faculty. And, a shocking discovery about one of Hotchclaw's most admired faculty members adds more sparks to the flames that set off a maze of entanglements reaching to a predominantly white northern university.

Ann Allen Shockley, with her dramatic sense and characteristic humor has crafted a vibrant novel that draws the reader to the characters, their rising tensions and the very real world she has created.

Happy Anniversary Hotchclaw - it's a wild party!

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Shockley is a black feminist theorist, novelist, and librarian. Shockley’s extensive contributions to black literature in general and black queer literature and politics more specifically, have broken ground in the vast wilderness of works that do not exist.

Shockley has written reference books, nonfiction and fiction for newspapers and journals, as well as book reviews, essays, novels, and a collection of short stories. She was born on June 21, 1927, in Louisville, Kentucky. She began publishing short stories in 'The Louisville Defender' at age eighteen.

After receiving a B.A. at Fisk University, Shockley went on to pursue an M.A. in Library Science at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She has worked at Delaware State College, the University of Maryland, and at Fisk University where she works as the curator for African American collections.

Reviews

[Rena]

Re-read on 2/16/19: Hands down, Celebrating Hotchclaw by Ann Allen Shockley is the best novel I've read about what truly happens behind the scenes of a southern HBCU from an administrative point of view, with a lesbian plot to boot. As an HBCU grad 🐍, I love this book and will continue to read it for years to come.

[Julie]

Great portrait of a mythical southern HBCU. Delightful characters. Great contemporary queer politics. And Freewoman Black just rocks.