"Dorothy West" [June 2,1907-August 16,1998]

Was a novelist and short story writer who was part of the Harlem Renaissance.She known for novel The Living is easy,about the life of an upper-class black family.She was born in Boston to Isaac Christopher West,an emancipated slave who later became a successful businessman,and Rachel Pease Benson,one of 22 children.Dorothy reportedly wrote her first story at the age of 7.At age 14,she won several local writing completions.In 1926,she tied for second place in a writing contest sponsored by Opportunity,a journal published by the National Urban League,with her story "The Typewriter."The person she tied with was future novelist Zora Neale Hurston.Shortly before winning,Dorothy moved to Harlem with her cousin, Helene Johnson.There west met other writers of the Harlem Renaissance,including Langston Hughes,Countee Cullen,and the novelist Wallace Thurman.Langston gave her the nickname of "The Kid,"by which she was known during her time in Harlem.Dorothy principal contribution to the Harlem Renaissance was to publish the Magazine Challenge,which she founded in 1934 with $40.She also published the magazines successor,New Challenge.These magazines were among the first to publish literature featuring realistic portrays of African Americans.Among the works published were Richard Wright's groundbreaking essay "Blueprint for Negro Writing,"together with writings by Margaret Walker and Ralph Ellison.After both magazines folded because of insufficient financing,Dorothy worked for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Writers Project until the mid-1940s.During this time she wrote a number of short stories for the New York Daily News.Dorothy then moved to Oak Bluffs Martha's Vineyard,where she wrote her first novel,The Living is Easy.Published in 1948,her novel was well received critically but did not sell many copies.In the four decades after,she worked as journalist,writing for a small newspaper on Martha Vineyard.In 1982 a feminist press brought The Living is Easy back into print,giving new attention to West and her role in the Harlem Renaissance.As a result of the attention at age 85 Dorothy finally finished a second novel,titled The wedding.Published in 1995,the novel was a best-seller and resulted in the publication of a collection of her short stories and reminiscenes called The Richer,the Poorer.Oprah turned the novel into a two-part television miniseries,The Wedding.At her death,she was one of the last surving members of the Harlem Renaissance.