The Secret Life of a Black Aspie: A Memoir

by Anand Prahlad

Prahlad received his MA and PhD in folklore studies and sociolinguistics at UC Berkeley and UCLA. He currently teaches folklore, film, creative writing, and disability studies in the English Department at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he has been a professor since 1990 and where he has been the recipient of numerous major teaching awards. Prahlad has published two books of poems, Hear My Story and Other Poems, and As Good As Mango. His poems and creative nonfiction have appeared in literary journals such as Fifth Wednesday, Water~Stone Review, Copper Nickel, Pleiades, The Chariton Review, and Natural Bridge. Prahlad has also published critical articles and books on black folklore including Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music, and African American Proverbs in Context. He has edited the three volume set, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore, and the one volume The Greenwood Student Encyclopedia of African American Folklore. In addition to his creative writing and scholarship, Prahlad is also a songwriter and musician, who plays multiple instruments, including the African mbira. He released his first CD, Hover Near, in 2008, and is now working on a second CD.