Forthcoming from IOPN: The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays
IOPN is excited to announce the upcoming publication of The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays by La Tanya L. Reese Rogers and Tanya E. Walker. Rogers and Walker’s publication analyzes five plays by contemporary Black female playwrights through the theoretical framework of the “Black female Motherhood Aesthetic,” which foregrounds the experiences of Black mothers and motherhood in modern America.
Tanya E. Walker, Co-Author of “The Motherhood Aesthetic.”
“The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays highlights Black women playwrights’ celebration of mothers, grandmothers, and Othermothers as warriors and nurturers, even while battling generational trauma and systemic oppression. It is my hope that this book encourages further explorations of Black motherhood in theater and the playwrights who shed light on the beauty, complexity, and power of this transformative experience.” – Tanya E. Walker, Project Co-Author
The analyzed plays include In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks, Before It Hits Home by Cheryl West, The Mojo and the Sayso by Aishah Rahman, Monster by Dael Orlandersmith, and Alabama Rain by Velina Hasu Houston. The Motherhood Aesthetic explores a wide variety of critical themes in these works, including skin-color marginalization, the complexities of coming-of-age within intersecting identities, the weight of social pressures and perceptions, and the ripple effects of familial disruption, while affirming and reinforcing the vitality and value of Black motherhood.
La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, Co-Author of “The Motherhood Aesthetic.”
“This digital resource makes this vital conversation and its framework accessible to a broad readership. It motivates readers to cultivate a deeper understanding of the social and cultural forces impacting Black mothers. More importantly, The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays honors the lived experiences of Black female playwrights and mother characters who are (re)shaping contemporary theatre through their representations of Black maternal experiences.” – La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, Project Co-Author
This work is a digital humanities project that was developed as part of a collaboration with the History of Black Writing’s Black Book Interactive Project (BBIP) Digital Publishing Scholars Program, an NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, and African American Studies Publishing Without Walls 2 (AFRO-PWW 2) at the University of Illinois, funded by the Mellon Foundation. AFRO-PWW 2 collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Black Studies scholars at PWIs, and community-based memory institutions to produce open-source digital publications that document Black lives and experiences.
The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays will be published by IOPN under the Publishing Without Walls imprint’s Black Studies series in Spring 2025.
IOPN is excited to announce the upcoming publication of The Motherhood Aesthetic in Contemporary Black American Plays by La Tanya L. Reese Rogers and Tanya E. Walker. Rogers and Walker’s publication analyzes five plays by contemporary Black female playwrights through the theoretical framework of the “Black female Motherhood Aesthetic,” which foregrounds the experiences of Black mothers and motherhood in modern America. 
