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Pearl Cleage

Born

in Springfield, Massachusetts, The United States

December 07, 1948

Website

http://www.pearlcleage.net/

Genre

Fiction

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Pearl Cleage (born December 7, 1948) is an African-American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an African-American woman. Cleage teaches drama at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pearl Cleage was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Doris Cleage née Graham), a teacher, and the late civil rights activist Bishop Albert Cleage. After backlash resulting from her father's radical teachings, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Bishop Cleage became a prominent civil rights leader. Cleage first attended Howard Unive Pearl Cleage (born December 7, 1948) is an African-American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an African-American woman. Cleage teaches drama at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pearl Cleage was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Doris Cleage née Graham), a teacher, and the late civil rights activist Bishop Albert Cleage. After backlash resulting from her father's radical teachings, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Bishop Cleage became a prominent civil rights leader. Cleage first attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1966 majoring in playwriting and dramatic literature. However she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Spelman College in 1969, where she eventually attained a bachelor's degree in drama in 1971. She then joined the Spelman faculty as a writer and playwright in residence and as a creative director. Cleage has written many novels, plays, and non-fiction works borrowing heavily from her life experiences. Many of her novels are set in neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cleage notably writes about topics at the intersection of sexism and racism, specifically on issues such as domestic violence and rape in the black community. She has been a supporter of the Obama administration. Cleage is an activist for AIDS and women's rights, experiences from which she draws from for her writings.

In 1969, Cleage married Michael Lomax, an Atlanta politician and past-president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. They had a daughter, Deignan Njeri. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979. In 1994, Cleage married Zaron Burnett, Jr, writer and director for the Just Us Theater Company. She has four grandchildren.

Cleage is a former Cosby Endowed Chair at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also speaks at colleges, universities, and conferences on topics including domestic violence, the citizen's role in a participatory democracy, and writing topics.

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Combine Editions
Pearl Cleage’s books

Average rating: 3.82 · 30,915 ratings · 1,444 reviews · 26 distinct works • Similar authors

	What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Idlewild, #1) 3.71 avg rating — 19,537 ratings — published 1997 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I Wish I Had a Red Dress (Idlewild #2) 4.09 avg rating — 2,992 ratings — published 2001 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Babylon Sisters (West End, #2) 4.01 avg rating — 2,087 ratings — published 2001 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do (West End, #1) 4.09 avg rating — 1,796 ratings — published 2003 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Baby Brother's Blues (West End, #3) 3.97 avg rating — 1,305 ratings — published 2006 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Seen It All and Done the Rest 4.05 avg rating — 928 ratings — published 2008 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Till You Hear from Me (West End, #4) 3.75 avg rating — 594 ratings — published 2010 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs 3.67 avg rating — 442 ratings — published 2014 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Just Wanna Testify (West End, #5) 3.46 avg rating — 477 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Speak Your Names: A Celebration by Pearl Cleage, Zaron W. Burnett 4.29 avg rating — 211 ratings — published 2006 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Pearl Cleage…

Series by Pearl Cleage

Idlewild (2 books)
by

Pearl Cleage

3.76 avg rating — 22,528 ratings

West End (5 books)
by

Pearl Cleage

3.96 avg rating — 6,259 ratings

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Quotes by Pearl Cleage

“We danced too wild, and we sang too long, and we hugged too hard, and we kissed too sweet, and howled just as loud as we wanted to howl, because by now we were all old enough to know that what looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.”
― Pearl Cleage

278 likes

“...no woman can love a weak man hard enough to make him strong.”
― Pearl Cleage, Just Wanna Testify

tags: love, man, strong, truth, weak, woman

241 likes

“Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.”
― Pearl Cleage, Deals with the Devil, and Other Reasons to Riot

193 likes

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Alice Walker

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Pearl Cleage’s Followers (378)

Pearl Cleage

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Pearl Cleage’s books