Winner of the 2019 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction
Winner of the Shilts-Grahn Triangle Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
Winner of the 2019 Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award
A New York Times Notable Book of 2018
A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic, yet least understood, Black artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century.
Lorraine Hansberry, who died at thirty-four, was by all accounts a force of nature. Although best-known for her work A Raisin in the Sun, her short life was full of extraordinary experiences and achievements, and she had an unflinching commitment to social justice, which brought her under FBI surveillance when she was barely in her twenties. While her close friends and contemporaries, like James Baldwin and Nina Simone, have been rightly celebrated, her story has been diminished and relegated to one work—until now. In 2018, Hansberry will get the recognition she deserves with the PBS American Masters documentary “Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” and Imani Perry’s multi-dimensional, illuminating biography, Looking for Lorraine.
After the success of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry used her prominence in myriad ways: challenging President Kennedy and his brother to take bolder stances on Civil Rights, supporting African anti-colonial leaders, and confronting the romantic racism of the Beat poets and Village hipsters. Though she married a man, she identified as lesbian and, risking censure and the prospect of being outed, joined one of the nation’s first lesbian organizations. Hansberry associated with many activists, writers, and musicians, including Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, among others. Looking for Lorraine is a powerful insight into Hansberry’s extraordinary life—a life that was tragically cut far too short.
A Black Caucus of the American Library Association Honor Book for Nonfiction
A 2019 Pauli Murray Book Prize Finalist
“Perry approaches her subject with both empathy and a sharp, critical eye; this is a biography that exercises several muscles at once. Perry’s sentences are intimate, warm, and crisp; in considerning Hansberry in all of her prismatic multiplicities, Perry has written a singular book.”
—Nell Irvin Painter, Sam Stephenson, and Rachel Syme, judges for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award
“Perry seeks to deepen our appreciation in this richly dimensional portrait of a brightly blazing artist, thinker, and activist . . . . Perry does not dwell on the minutiae of traditional biographical coverage of what, when, and where, focusing, instead, on who and why, on inner drama rather than exterior events. Mining writings private and published, collecting memories, tracking the reverberations of Hansberry’s personality, words, and actions, and, at times, entering the narrative, Perry illuminates with arresting impact Hansberry’s thoughts, feelings, and revolutionary social consciousness . . . . Perry’s ardent, expert, and redefining work of biographical discovery brings light, warmth, scope, and enlightening complexity to the spine-straightening story of a brilliant, courageous, seminal, and essential American writer.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“An intimate portrait of the artist as a black woman at the crossroads . . . Perry infuses the narrative with a sense of urgency and enthusiasm because she believes Hansberry has something to teach us in these ‘complicated times.’ Impressively, she tells her subject’s story in a tightly packed 200 pages. Perry also smartly delves into the inspirations for Hansberry’s brilliant A Raisin in the Sun and engagingly explores Hansberry’s profound friendships with James Baldwin and Nina Simone . . . Throughout this animated and inspiring biography, Perry reminds us that the ‘battles Lorraine fought are still before us: exploitation of the poor, racism, neocolonialism, homophobia, and patriarchy.’”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“A must-read for fans of black and queer history, literary, biography, and women’s history.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Its strongest chapters — on A Raisin in the Sun and Lorraine’s coming into her own as a public intellectual — are masterly syntheses of research and analysis. It’s a joy for devotees to encounter some record of Hansberry’s influences, including the Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the Irish playwright Sean O’Casey and the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. . . . Perry makes a welcome case for a fresh assessment of Hansberry’s nondramatic works: her short stories, many published pseudonymously in lesbian magazines, and her many letters and op-eds on politics and literature for The Village Voice and The New York Times.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“A work of scholarship and love . . . . Perry takes us into [Hansberry’s] interior life with a deft hand and a richness of language that makes every page of this book a pleasure to read . . . . [A] wonderful biography of the radical Lorraine Hansberry.”
—The Progressive
“Looking for Lorraine is phenomenal. I didn’t know how hungry I was for this intimate portrait until now. It feels as though Ms. Hansberry has walked into my living room and sat down beside me. What an honor and joy to read this. The writing is whip-smart, yet lovely and clear-eyed. What gifts this book, Ms. Perry, and Lorraine Hansberry are to the world.”
—Jacqueline Woodson, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and National Book Award Winner for Brown Girl Dreaming
“This is one of those books you need to read. Lorraine Hansberry was so dear, so gifted, so black, so singular in so many ways, that to miss the story of her life is to miss a huge part of ours. She left us way too soon, and yet the gift of her presence, so briefly among us, is still felt in the art she left behind. But not only in the art, but in the life. A life at last made comprehensible by this loving, attentive, thoughtful book.”
—Alice Walker
“I have always admired the brilliant Lorraine Hansberry. Now I treasure her even more. Imani Perry’s magnificently written and extremely well researched Looking for Lorraine reclaims for all of us the Lorraine Hansberry we should have had all along, the multifaceted genius for whom A Raisin in the Sun was just the tip of the iceberg. Though Hansberry’s life was brief, her powerful work remains vital and urgently necessary. One can say the same of this phenomenal book, which hopefully will lead more readers to both Hansberry’s published and unpublished works.”
—Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying
“This powerful and profound book is the definitive treatment of a literary genius, political revolutionary, and spiritual radical—Lorraine Hansberry. Imani Perry takes us beyond the widespread misunderstandings of Hansberry’s complicated text into the zone of artistic greatness and moral courage—where Lorraine Hansberry belongs!”
—Dr. Cornel West
INTRODUCTION
Lorraine’s Time
CHAPTER ONE
Migration Song
CHAPTER TWO
From Heartland to the Water’s Edge
CHAPTER THREE
The Girl Who Can Do Everything
CHAPTER FOUR
Bobby
CHAPTER FIVE
Sappho’s Poetry
CHAPTER SIX
Raisin
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Trinity
CHAPTER EIGHT
Of the Faith of Our Fathers
CHAPTER NINE
American Radical
CHAPTER TEN
The View from Chitterling Heights
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Homegoing
CONCLUSION
Retracing, May 2017
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
- “The Black Playwright Who Transformed Theater,” Notes from America with Kai Wright/WNYC Studios, radio interview
- “Lorraine Hansberry’s Roving Global Vision,” The New Yorker, book featured in Vince Cummingham column
- “Lorraine Hansberry on Depression and Its Most Reliable Antidote,” Brain Pickings, piece on book
- “Attica Locke, Novelist and TV Writer, Has Some Suggestions for Hollywood,” The New York Times, book mentioned in “By the Book” interview with author Attica Locke
- “Writers and Readers: Reflections on Writing a Life,” Booklist, essay
- “In Her Own Time: Why We’re Still Looking for Lorraine Hansberry,” The Point, write-up
- “Amazon adventures, LAMBDA laureates, and local natives,” The Boston Globe, write-up about Lamda Literary achievement ran in New England Literary News column
- “Imani Perry’s Liberation Feminism,” The Nation, Q&A
- “15 Biographies Of Women That Make Captivating Women’s History Month Reads,” Bustle, included in reading roundup
- “How Lorraine Hansberry Turned Her Family’s Story Into A Raisin in the Sun,” Playbill, write-up
- “7 new books to read during Black History Month,” Newsday, included in Black History Month reading roundup
- “What to Read Before or After You See ‘If Beale Street Could Talk,’” The New York Times, included in list
- “What Kiese Laymon Wants You to Read: The Books I Wish I Wrote,” Booklist, included in Kiese Laymon’s reading recommendation roundup
- “Our Favorite Books of the Year,” Jezebel, noted as a “Book of the Year”
- “12 Days of Gifting, Day 11: For the Bibliophiles,” The Root, included in gift-giving series
- “These Are The Best Nonfiction Books Of 2018,” BuzzFeed News, included in best-of reading list
- “Lorraine Hansberry, American radical: She pushed RFK to make ‘a moral commitment’ on civil rights,” Salon, excerpt
- “Our List of Can’t-Miss Books for Holiday Gifting,” ESPN/The Undefeated, included in best-of reading roundup
- “50 of the Best LGBT Books of 2018,” Autostraddle, noted as one of the 50 Best LGBT books of 2018
- “A Thousand Directions at Once,” Harvard University (online), Q&A with Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- “Looking for Lorraine,” LitHub/Book Marks, listing of notable reviews for the book
- “Well-Read Black Girl’s Glory Edim On Her Book Club and the Importance of Representation,” Jezebel, included in interview with Glory Edim about being a Well-Read Black Girl book club pick
- “100 Notable Books of 2018,” The New York Times, listed as a notable nonfiction book for 2018
- “Book Explores ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Author Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘Radiant and Radical Life,’” Chicago Tonight/WTTW TV, taped interview
- “Author Talk: Marc Lamont Hill & Imani Perry, Looking for Lorraine,” Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, recorded author event
- “Fall Books 2018,” Call Your Girlfriend, podcast interview
- “Grateful Badass Reads - ‘Looking for Lorraine’ by Imani Perry,” Grateful Badass Reads, podcast feature
- “UW Women at 150: Looking for — and finding — Lorraine Hansberry,” University of Wisconsin-Madison News, book included in feature piece on Lorraine Hansberry
- “8 New Books We Recommend This Week,” The New York Times Book Review, included in reading roundup
- “BitchReads: 15 Nonfiction Books Feminists Should Read This Fall,” Bitch Media, listed in reading roundup
- “Author Imani Perry joined us to talk about her new book, Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry,” WGBH/Boston Public Radio, live in-studio interview
- “The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry,” Radio Times/WHYY Radio (NPR Philly), live in-studio interview
- “Andrew Carnegie Medals Longlist,” ALA, long-listed for Carnegie award for nonfiction
- “An important writer forgotten amid a season of loss,” The Boston Globe, column interview
- “Young, Restless, Gifted, and Black: Exploring the Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry with Imani Perry,” Los Angeles Review of Books, review with Q&A
- “How Lorraine Hansberry Saw Herself,” Lapham’s Quarterly, original piece
- “Imani Perry,” Full Stop, Q&A
- “The Race-Focused Books We're Reading This Fall,” Colorlines, listed in reading roundup
- “7 Ways to Resist This Week,” The Advocate, included in “7 Ways to Resist” roundup
- “LISTEN: Imani Perry Uplifts Lorraine Hansberry’s Activist Legacy,” Colorlines, feature
- “Looking for Lorraine by Imani Perry,” Get Lit with Paula, write-up
- “Best New Books: Week of September 18, 2018,” The Booklist Reader, listed in reading roundup
- “Looking for Lorraine,” The Paris Review, excerpt
- “‘Looking for Lorraine’ illuminates life of iconic playwright — and Chicago native — Lorraine Hansberry,” Chicago Tribune, Q&A
- “The Radical Friendship Of Lorraine Hansberry And James Baldwin,” BuzzFeed News, excerpt
- “New Biography More Fully Defines Playwright Lorraine Hansberry,” NPR/Morning Edition, segment about Hansberry and book, including interview with author
- “How the Great Lorraine Hansberry Tried to Make Sense of It All,” Literary Hub, excerpt
- “Who Wrote ‘A Raisin in the Sun’? Imani Perry Knows,” Publishers Weekly, author profile
- The New York Times, quoted and listed as author of Looking For Lorraine in piece about Hansberry PBS documentary, 1/12/2018
Download the Discussion Guide for Looking for Lorraine
Questions for Discussion
Chapter 1: Migration Song
- In what ways is Lorraine’s life a story of migration?
- How did the political times that she grew up in, coming from her particular family background, help shape her outlook of the world?
Chapter 2: From Heartland to the Water’s Edge
- What do the artists, authors, and various other influences in Lorraine’s life say about her?
- Because many of her influences were varied, racially and in terms of gender and nationality, can we still draw comparisons between her work and how those influences deal with issues of identity in their own work?
Chapter 3: The Girl Who Can Do Everything
- How do Lorraine’s political affiliations with the Communist Party play out in her life?
- How does her experience in Uruguay for the Inter-American Peace Conference shape her activism and artistic perspective?
Chapter 4: Bobby
- Why was Lorraine’s global approach to Black liberation unusual for her era?
- How do you read Lorraine’s marriage to Bobby?
Chapter 5: Sappho’s Poetry
- “Critics write about Lorraine’s sexuality in varying ways.” (pg. 79) How do you feel about this conversation around her sexuality? Where do they stand on whether or not it is pertinent to a discussion of Lorraine’s work as an artist?
- “This might seem like a fairly commonplace understanding today, because we associate the liberation of women generally with the liberation of desire and human connection . . .” (pg. 81) To what extent is this true? Was Lorraine an outlier of thought in her time, or is this question of separating liberation movements still important today?
- “Contradictions are a universal part of the human personality.” (pg. 96) How do we see Lorraine’s contradictions manifest? Are they all contradictions?
Chapter 6: Raisin
- How did the reactions to the play reflect or contradict Lorraine’s expressed ideas about identity, art, and politics?
- “We missed the essence of the work” (pg. 101) writes Amiri Baraka about Raisin in the Sun. Does the writer’s intent matter in how we read and interpret her work?
- Is there any merit to the Black left’s then dismissal of Lorraine and her play on the basis of her middle-class background? Do you think she was well positioned to write the play that she wrote?
- “She instructed them [the critics] that the real problem with Raisin was it lacked a central character who anchored the play.” (pg. 106) Do you agree? Is there a problem with Raisin and, if so, what is it?
- “In the process, she criticized the critics who classified poetic drama (good) on one side and social drama its opposite.” (pg. 108) What is the role of art? Is it to simply entertain us or to also ask bigger questions of us?
Chapter Seven: The Trinity
- How important are Lorraine’s relationships with James Baldwin and Nina Simone to her work as an artist but also to her as a person?
Chapter 8: Of the Faith of Our Fathers
- “Parenthetically, I might say I haven’t drawn a cent from the family since I came east nine years ago.” (pg. 138) Does Hansberry giving up her financial inheritance change your perspective of her and her politics and work?
- “But she doesn’t ventriloquize women, only men.” (pg. 144) How do you read Lorraine’s inclination towards writing male characters?
Chapter 9: American Radical
- What did it mean to Lorraine Hansberry to be a radical? “Though she was a radical in essays and letters, it was challenging for Lorraine to bring her radicalism to the American public in her art.” (pg. 158) Does this statement make her any less radical in your view?
- And the solution to the struggle for racial justice was “to find some way with these dialogues to show and to encourage the white liberal to stop being a liberal and become an American radical.” (pg. 172) Do you think that liberalism is not radical enough to bring about fundamental change in the US?
- “Lorraine rejected the American project but not America.” (pg. 173) Is it possible to separate the two?
- How was Lorraine shaped by her broader sociopolitical context?
Chapter 10: The View from Chitterling Heights
- “Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually—without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle?” (pg. 180) Do you think that one needs to “give her body to the struggle” to be revolutionary?
Chapter 11: Homegoing
- “Lorraine, once dismissed as bourgeois, was embraced by the Black Power generation.” (pg. 197) What are some of the factors that may have brought this about?
- “There were always murmurs—murmurs about her sexuality, about her radicalism, about the work we’d never seen.” (pg. 198) How different would Lorraine’s legacy have looked had her private papers been released earlier?
- How did author Imani Perry’s connection with Lorraine Hansberry influence or affect your reading?