The ''Saturday Evening Quill'' was a short-lived (1928–1930) African-American literary magazine of the Harlem Renaissance. It was founded by the journalist Eugene Gordon.

History

In 1925, Boston-based journalist Eugene Gordon organized an African-American literary group, the Saturday Evening Quill Club (also known as the Boston Quill Club). Its founding members included the writers

Helene Johnson Helene Johnson (July 7, 1906 – July 7, 1995) was an African-American poet during the Harlem Renaissance. She was also a cousin of writer Dorothy West. Career Johnson's literary career began when she won first prize in a short story competiti ...

and

Dorothy West Dorothy West (June 2, 1907 – August 16, 1998) was an American storyteller and short story writer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. She is best known for her 1948 novel ''The Living Is Easy'', as well as many other short stories a ...

. Out of this grew an annual literary magazine, ''Saturday Evening Quill'', which Gordon edited. Only three issues were published, for the years 1928 to 1930. It was intended mainly for the benefit of club members, and only the third and final issue was available for sale to the public. The ''Saturday Evening Quill'' published stories, poems, essays, and plays. In addition to Gordon, Johnson, and West themselves, it published such noted writers as

Gertrude Schalk Gertrude Schalk (1906 – April 23, 1977), also known as Toki Schalk Johnson, was a twentieth-century African-American writer, columnist, clubwoman, and newspaper editor. Although she lived and worked outside of New York City, her early fiction ...

Florida Ruffin Ridley Florida Ruffin Ridley (born Florida Yates Ruffin; January 29, 1861 – February 25, 1943) was an African-American civil rights activist, suffragist, teacher, writer, and editor from Boston, Massachusetts. She was one of the first black public sch ...

Edythe Mae Gordon Edythe Mae Gordon (ca. 1897–1980) was an African-American writer of short stories and poetry during the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Gordon primarily published her work in the ''Quill Club'', a Boston-based publication founded by her husband ...

Lois Mailou Jones Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) was an artist and educator. Her work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum o ...

Lewis Grandison Alexander Lewis Grandison Alexander (July 4, 1898 – November 25, 1945) was an American poet, actor, playwright, and costume designer who lived in Washington, D.C. and had strong ties to the Harlem Renaissance period in New York. Alexander focused most of ...

, Alvira Hazzard, Alice E. Furlong, and Roscoe Wright (who also designed its monogram).

History

References

Further reading