Alice Randall (born May 4, 1959) is an American author and songwriter. She is perhaps best known for her novel ''

The Wind Done Gone ''The Wind Done Gone'' (2001) is the first novel written by Alice Randall. It is a bestselling historical novel that tells an alternative account of the story in the American novel ''Gone with the Wind'' (1936) by Margaret Mitchell. While the ...

'', a reinterpretation and parody of the popular 1936 novel ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''.

Early life

Born Mari-Alice Randall in Detroit, Michigan,Paula J. K. Morris
"Randall, Alice 1959–"
Contemporary Black Biography, 2003. Encyclopedia.com. she grew up in Washington, D.C. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, where she earned an honors degree in English and American literature, before moving to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

in 1983 to become a country songwriter.Biography on Alice Randall Official Website
accessed February 9, 2007. She currently lives in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and is divorced from attorney David Ewing. She is a writer-in-residence at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and teaches courses including a seminar on the country music lyric in American literature.

Career

Music

Randall is the first African-American woman to co-write a number-one

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

hit. The single "

XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl) "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)" is a song written by Matraca Berg and Alice Randall, and recorded by American country music singer Trisha Yearwood. It was released in June 1994 as the lead single from her album '' Thinkin' About You''. The ...

" was released in 1994 by country music singer

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

. Over 20 of her songs have been recorded, including several top 10 and top 40 records; her songs have been performed by Trisha Yearwood and

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards ...

Writing

Fiction

Randall is the author of six novels: * ''

'' (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001) * ''Pushkin and the Queen of Spades'' (2004) * ''Rebel Yell'' (2009) *''Ada's Rules: A Sexy Skinny Novel'' (2012) *''The Diary of B.B. Bright, Possible Princess (2013)'' winner of the Phillis Wheatley Award *''Black Bottom Saints'' (2020) Her first novel ''The Wind Done Gone'', is a reinterpretation and parody of

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

's 1936 novel ''

''. ''The Wind Done Gone'' essentially tells the same story as ''Gone with the Wind'' but from the viewpoint of

Scarlett O'Hara Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is the ...

's half-sister Cynara, a

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

on Scarlett's

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

. Randall and her publishing company,

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, were sued in April 2001 by Mitchell's estate on the grounds that ''The Wind Done Gone'' infringed the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

of ''Gone with the Wind''. The lawsuit, '' Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin Co.'', was eventually settled, allowing ''The Wind Done Gone'' to be published with the addition of a label describing it as "An Unauthorized Parody". In addition, Houghton Mifflin agreed to make a financial contribution to the

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

, a historically black education institution in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

supported by the Mitchell estate. The novel became a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller. Randall's second novel, ''Pushkin and the Queen of Spades'', was named as one of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

s "Best fiction of 2004."

Non-fiction

Published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 2015, the cookbook ''

Soul Food Love In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest at ...

'' was co-written by Randall and her daughter, the author and poet, Caroline Randall Williams. In February 2016, the book received the 2016

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for Literature (Instructional).

Awards

Randall received the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Award in 2001 and the Literature Award of Excellence from the Memphis Black Writers Conference in 2002. She was a finalist for an

in 2002. Randall was also accepted for a prestigious writing residency at the famed

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March&nbs ...

artist's community from June 23, 2011, to July 24, 2011. Randall and her daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, received the 2016 NAACP Image Award for Literature (Instructional) for their book, Soul Food Love.

Songs

* The Ballad of Sally Anne –

, River City Ramblers * Big Dream –

Samantha Mathis Samantha Mathis (born May 12, 1970) is an American actress and trade union leader who served as the Vice President, Actors/Performers of SAG-AFTRA from 2015 to 2019. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in '' Pump Up t ...

* Blinded By Stars –

Adrienne Young Adrienne Adeana Young is an American Charlottesville, Virginia-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She is founder and operator of AddieBelle Music which produces her recordings. History A native of Tallahassee, Florida, in f ...

* Get the Hell Out of Dodge – Walter Hyatt * Girls Ride Horses Too –

Judy Rodman Judy Mae Rodman (née Robbins; May 23, 1951)California Birth Index, 1905-1995 is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the mid-1980s, she was a successful recording artist; making it all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot ...

* I'll Cry for Yours (Will You Cry for Mine) – Tamra Rosanes * Many Mansions – Moe Bandy * Reckless Night –

The Forester Sisters The Forester Sisters were an American country music vocal group consisting of sisters Kathy, June, Kim, and Christy Forester. Having performed together locally in their native Lookout Mountain, Georgia, since the 1970s, the four sisters began si ...

* Small Towns (Are Smaller for Girls) –

Holly Dunn Holly Suzette Dunn (August 22, 1957 – November 14, 2016) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 1995 ...

* Solitary Hero – Carole Elliot * The Resurrection – The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band * Went for a Ride –

Radney Foster Radney Muckleroy Foster (born July 20, 1959) is an American country music singer-songwriter, musician and music producer. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his recording debut as part of the Foster & Lloyd duo, recording ...

* Who's Minding the Garden –

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

–

References

External links

Alice Randall
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, Alice 1959 births Living people 21st-century American novelists African-American women writers African-American novelists American women novelists Songwriters from Michigan Harvard College alumni Writers from Detroit People from Nashville, Tennessee 21st-century American women writers Songwriters from Tennessee Novelists from Michigan Novelists from Tennessee African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women