Joanne Braxton
{{Distinguish|Joanne Bratton{{!}}JoAnne Bratton}}
{{Short description|American author, teacher, and literary critic}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Joanne M. Braxton
| birth_date = {{b-da|25 May 1950}}
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Sarah Lawrence College
| occupation = Author, teacher and literary critic
| title = Dr
}}
Joanne Margaret Braxton (born May 25, 1950) is an American author, teacher, and literary critic. She has written about topics including Maya Angelou and the book Black Women Writing Autobiography. Braxton has also edited works such as Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance and a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. She is an emeritus Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of the Humanities at the College of William & Mary, and President of the Board of the Braxton Institute.
Biography
Joanne Margaret Braxton was born on May 25, 1950, in Lakeland, Maryland, to Harry McHenry Braxton and Mary Ellen Weems Braxton. She is the second born and has 3 brothers; James, Harry Jr. and Douglas, respectively.{{Cite web|title=Joanne M Braxton|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095525780|access-date=2021-02-14|website=Oxford Reference|language=en}} She attended the Northwestern Senior High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. She has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University,{{cite web|title=Joanne Braxton|url=https://www.wm.edu/as/english/facultystaff/emeritus/braxton_j.php|access-date=15 February 2021|website=William & Mary|language=en}} and an M.Div. from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology of Virginia Union University.{{cite web|title=Who We Are|url=https://www.braxtoninstitute.org/board|access-date=15 February 2021|website=Braxton Institute}} Braxton is also known as "Jodi".Braxton, Joanne (Aka Jodi) (Margaret) 5/25/1950- (2018). In S. D. Hatch (Ed.), Encyclopedia of African-American writing: five centuries of contribution: trials & triumphs of writers, poets, publications and organizations (3rd ed.). Grey House Publishing
She has published some of her own poetry, including the 1977 collection Sometimes I Think of Maryland, which was praised by Gwendolyn Brooks. As a literary critic, Braxton has written about topics including Maya Angelou{{Cite journal|last=Rummell|first=Kathryn|date=2000|title=Review of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1348431|journal=Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature|volume=54|issue=1|pages=124–126|doi=10.2307/1348431|issn=0361-1299|jstor=1348431|s2cid=202639411|url-access=subscription}} and the books Black Women Writing Autobiography.{{Cite journal|last=King|first=Wilma|date=1991|title=Review of Black Women Writing Autobiography: A Tradition Within a Tradition|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2209967|journal=The Journal of Southern History|volume=57|issue=3|pages=523–524|doi=10.2307/2209967|issn=0022-4642|jstor=2209967|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Sadoff|first=Dianne F.|date=1991|title=Gender and African-American Narrative|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712971|journal=American Quarterly|volume=43|issue=1|pages=119–127|doi=10.2307/2712971|issn=0003-0678|jstor=2712971|url-access=subscription}} She based Black Women Writing Autobiography on her dissertation. Braxton has also edited works such as Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance and a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry.{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Melba|date=1991-03-01|title=Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance|journal=Feminist Review|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=110–112|doi=10.1057/fr.1991.12|issn=0141-7789|doi-access=free}} She has taught at universities including Yale and the University of Michigan and is currently an emeritus Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of the Humanities at the College of William & Mary, where she directs the Middle Passage Project.{{Cite web|title=Biography of Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D.|url=https://www.wm.edu/as/africanastudies/middlepassage/about/biography/index.php|access-date=2021-03-05|website=William & Mary|language=en}} Braxton is also CEO and President of the Board of the Braxton Institute for Human Sustainability Resiliency and Joy.
Braxton has won an Outstanding Educator Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia{{Cite web|title=1992|url=https://www.schev.edu/index/institutional/outstanding-faculty-awards/award-recipients/lists/recipient-years-1987-to-1999/1992|access-date=2021-03-05|website=www.schev.edu}} and several lifetime achievement awards, including an Oni Award in 2002 from the International Black Women's Congress "for uncompromising commitment to uplifting the lives of African people."{{Cite web|title=Biography of Joanne M. Braxton, Ph.D.|url=https://www.wm.edu/as/africanastudies/middlepassage/about/biography/index.php|access-date=2021-03-05|website=William & Mary|language=en}}
References
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Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:American women non-fiction writers
Category:College of William & Mary faculty
Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni
Category:Virginia Union University alumni