Skip to main content

Nkombo Publications

 Organization

Historical Note

Born out of the BLKARTSOUTH writing workshop group of the Free Southern Theater, Nkombo Publications matured as an autonomous organization with the publication of its occasional journal of poetry and other forms of creative writing. Originally published as Echoes from the Gumbo, the journal soon changed its name to Nkombo, the Bantu word that is the origin of the English “gumbo.” The journal served to highlight the creative output of members of the Free Southern Theater’s writing workshops and, more generally, that of writers throughout the South. Edited variously by Tom Dent, Kalamu ya Salaam, and Wendell Narcisse, Nkombo was only published in nine issues from 1968 to 1974. Nkombo’s short life, however, does not diminish its significance as one of the South’s most important creations during the Black Arts Movement. In addition to the journal, Nkombo Publications produced several chapbooks and smaller works of fiction and collected writings. As a prominent journal of the Black Arts Movement in the South, Nkombo Publications was widely influenced by the movement nationally, and figures of national prominence lent their voice to Nkombo, including Margaret Walker Alexander, Earl Billings, Maulana Ron Karenga, Alice Walker, Keorapetse Kgositsile, and David Henderson. Despite the highly politically-charged character of many of Nkombo Publications’ works, the group was less stratified than most organizations within the Black Arts Movement. Several issues of Nkombo highlighted the contributions of female writers, and the group had practicing Catholics working alongside practicing Muslims within the group. Nkombo Publications even bridged the generation gap, and Octave Lilly – who was part of the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s and was published in the journal Opportunity during the Harlem Renaissance – had his works featured in multiple volumes of Nkombo.

Citation:
Author: Andrew Salinas
Abstract:

Salinas, Andrew. 2011. "BLKARTSOUTH ." KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana. http://www.www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=663 (accessed April 19, 2011).

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Nkombo Publications records

 Collection
Identifier: 467
Scope and Contents This collection documents the literary production and intergroup collaboration of Nkombo Publications, one of the best-organized and most active groups affiliated with the Southern extension of the Black Arts Movement. These records include outgoing and incoming correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts from both well-known and lesser-known poets of the Black Arts Movement, collected publications and ephemera, and financial documents. The records span the late 1960s and early...
Dates: Created: 1968-1974; Other: Date acquired: 03/22/1995
Found in: Amistad Research Center / Nkombo Publications records

Staff Interface | Visit ArchivesSpace.org | v3.2.0 | Send Feedback or Report a Problem