Paule Marshall was born as Paule Burke in 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. She visited her parents' homeland, Barbados, for the first time at the age of nine. She graduated from Brooklyn College (1953) and conducted graduate studies at Hunter College (1955). Early on in her life, Marshall wrote a series of poems reflecting impressions of Barbados, later, she turned to fiction. She has published short stories and articles in various magazines. She is best known for her novels and collections of short stories: Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959), Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961), The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969), Praisesong for the Widow (1983), Reena and Other Short Stories (1983), and Daughters (1991). Marshall has lectured on black literature at universities and colleges such as Oxford University, Columbia University, Michigan State University, and Cornell University. She holds a distinguished chair in creative writing at New York University.
Courtesy of Emory University.