Virginia Hamilton. (Tribute).

"I write books because I love chasing after a good story and seeing fantastic characters rise out of the mist of my imaginings. I can't explain how it is I keep having new ideas, but one book inevitably follows another, it is my way of exploring the known, the remembered, and the imagined, the literary triad of which all stories are made."

--Virginia Hamilton

Writer, storyteller, beloved mother, sister, wife and friend, Virginia Hamilton leaves a legacy that lives on through any person who has made her acquaintance, heard one of her stories, or been "liberated through her literature."

Inspired by her parents' gift of oral storytelling and doted upon as "the baby" of the family, Virginia, the youngest of five siblings, began writing at an early age. She thought of it more as a hobby rather than a long-term career. Her extended family of farmers and storytellers, and her experience living On the Ohio River Valley opened her mind to the imaginative world of writing.

When Hamilton entered Antioch College on a full scholarship, it seemed only natural for her to drift toward literature and creative writing where her natural talent for writing was highly regarded. The attention left Hamilton feeling somewhat claustrophobic. Three years later, she left Antioch College for Ohio State University. With several years of college under her belt, she set out for New York City where she was told that a great golden kettle of publishers would be waiting just for her.

Hamilton's success began with her first novel, Zeely, published in 1967. She wrote it as a short story when she was student at Ohio State. Her college friend, and then editor, Janet Schulman convinced her to turn it into a novel. Zeely tells the story of an imaginative girl, Geeder, who while spending the summer at her uncle's farm is captivated by an eccentric local woman she believes to be a Watusi queen. Through her fascination with Zeely, Geeder gradually comes to learn a great deal about herself.

Zeely was a groundbreaking novel that distinguished itself from the few children's books about black people, most of which were about impoverished or "problem children," being brave and empowered. Her book "helped launch the modern era of African-American children's literature" said her teacher, colleague and friend Rudine Sims Bishop. Bishop also remarked that the character Zeely seemed to have sprung from Virginia's head--full-grown like Athena, armed with self-knowledge, shielded by pride, and robed in dignity, qualities she describes as being as much like Hamilton as they were her creation.

Long before she wrote her first book, Hamilton's mother told her a tale that she would never forget. This was a story that was passed on to her mother when she was a child. It was a true story that left a deep and lasting impression. It was the story of how her grandfather Levi, who was once a slave, escaped from Virginia and ran to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Hamilton's mother named her Virginia, lest she forget from whence she came.

Because of her family roots, many of her books involve not only children but grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles the same way that there were many generations in her own life. "Listen children," her grandfather Levi would say, "and I will tell you how I ran away from slavery, so you'll know never to let bondage happen to you" Hamilton believed that her parents passed along their heritage, culture and pride in their history, a tradition she was proud to have passed on.

While studying writing in New York in 1960, Hamilton married poet, book anthologist and author Arnold Adoff. In her autobiographical sketch, she explained their lives together: "We describe ourselves as a two-Olivetti family. We live with our children, ten cats and one dog in a great modern house smack in the middle of a cornfield, the last remaining section of that farm belonging to my family. Writing is our staff of life. Home and hearth is the medium by which it grows."

Virginia Hamilton was born March 12, 1936, on her family's farm in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and wrote more than 35 books in genres that span picture books, folk stories, mysteries, science fiction, realistic novels and biographies. Her books, although written mainly for children and young adults, are appreciated and loved by people of all ages. Her best-known works include Zeely (1967), The Planet of Junior Brown (1971), M.C. Higgins, the Great (1974), The People Could Fly (1985), Many Thousand Gone: African-Americans From Slavery to Freedom (1995).

Woven into her books is a deep concern with memory, tradition and generational legacy, especially as those elements helped define the lives of American blacks from the days of slavery on. Bonnie Verburg, Hamilton's editor at The Blue Sky Press/Scholastic Inc., wrote, "Hamilton's rare ability to combine master storytelling with scholarly research allowed her to rescue and retell important narratives that would otherwise have remained lost."

Hamilton was the recipient of every major award and honor in her field, and she has clearly made her mark on children's literature. She was the first writer for children to receive a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, and in 1975, Hamilton won the National Book Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and was the first African-American recipient of the John Newbery Medal for M.C. Higgins, the Great. Her many literary honors also include the Coretta Scott King Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Regina Medal and an NAACP Image Award.

One of her most prized projects that still exists today is the Virginia Hamilton Conference. The Conference is the longest-running event in the United States to focus exclusively on multicultural literature for children and young adults. Honoring author Virginia Hamilton, the conference reflects a commitment to promoting cultural awareness and affirming cultural pride, while addressing the array of issues that surround the concept of culture. The Virginia Hamilton Adoff Creative Outreach Award was established in conjunction with the conference by Arnold Adoff shortly after Hamiltons death. The award is to be given to a graduate student enrolled at Kent State University College of Education or School Library and Information Science. The first of these annual grants will be awarded in April 2004 at the Virginia Hamilton Conference.

Virginia Hamilton-Adoff died of breast cancer on February 19, 2002, not far from her home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where her husband still lives. Her son, Jaime Levi Adoff, lives in Manhattan and her daughter, Leigh Hamilton Adoff-Zeise, lives in Berlin.

Virginia Hamilton is America's most honored writer of children's literature. She created memorable stories and positive images for children of color for 35 years. Among the awards bestowed on Hamilton are the John C. Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Edgar Allen Poe Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Here's a list of some of her award-winning titles.

Zeely (1st published in 1967)
Simon & Schuster, May 1968
$17.95, ISBN 0-027-42470-7

The House of Dies Drear
(1st published in 1968), Pocket Books
November 1984 (reissue)
$5.99, ISBN 0-020-43520-7

The Planet of Junior Brown
(1st published in 1971), Pocket Books
May 1986, $4.99, ISBN 0-020-43540-1

M.C. Higgins, The Great
(1st published in 1974), Pocket Books
October 1988 (reissue)
$4.99, ISBN 0-020-43490-1

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
(1st published in 1982), Avon, (reissued
1987), $5.99, ISBN 0-380-65193-9

The People Could Fly: American Black
Folktales (1st published in 1985)
Knopf, January 1993 (reprint edition)
$13.00, ISBN 0-679-84336-1

In the Beginning: Creation Stories From
Around the World, Harcourt, October
1988, $5.00, ISBN 0-152-38740-4

Her Stories: African American Folktales,
Fairy Tales and True Tales, Scholastic, October
1995, $19.95, ISBN 0-590-47370-0

Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph
of a Fugitive Slave, Bt Bound, October
1999, $13.30, ISBN 0-785-70024-2

When Birds Could Talk
and Bats Could Sing
Scholastic, March 1996
$17.95, ISBN 0-590-47372-7

The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl
HarperTrophy, November 1986
$7.95, ISBN 0-064-40178-2

The Girl Who Spun Gold
Blue Sky Press, September 2000
$16.95, ISBN 0-590-47378-6

Maisha Johnson, a New Jersey native and graduate of Clark Atlanta University, penned the tribute to Virginia Hamilton, America's most honored writer of children's literature. After returning from Atlanta to the New York area, Johnson's first journalism job was as a copy editor and writer at City News, a New Jersey weekly newspaper. She is currently a senior marketing coordinator at Scholastic. The Virginia Hamilton tribute begins on page 71.

Quraysh Ali Lansana returns to BIBR as editor of the poetry section. Lansana is the author of two poetry collections, a poetry chapbook, a children's book, a PBS award-winning poetry video, and is editor of four anthologies, including Glencoe/McGraw-Hill's African American Literature Reader and co-editor of Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art. He is acting director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing and assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at Chicago State University. He is also a faculty member of the drama division at The Juilliard School. Lansana earned his MFA in creative writing at New York University, where he was a departmental fellow.