Introduction


Ernest J. Gaines
In the writing of Ernest J. Gaines, the impact of slavery is far from over. Born during the Great Depression as the son of a sharecropper, Gaines was only a few generations removed from slavery and the end of the Civil War. The effects of history and the continuing struggle of African Americans (particularly in the South, where Gaines was raised) can be keenly felt in all of his work. A Lesson Before Dying is Gaines’s most noted novel and draws many parallels to his own life, balancing moments of pain and melancholia with those of serenity and peace. In all his work, Gaines produces honest representations of the African-American experience—one that is harsh and difficult, but by no means devoid of hope.

Essential Facts

  1. Reportedly, Gaines burned his first manuscript after its initial rejection by a publisher. Catherine Carmier, his first published novel, is believed to be a rewrite of that lost manuscript.
  2. Gaines has been nominated for both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Pulitzer Prize. The latter was for his highly regarded novel A Lesson Before Dying.
  3. Several of Gaines’s novels have been filmed for television, the earliest of which was The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, starring Cicely Tyson.
  4. A Louisiana native, Gaines teaches creative writing at the University of Louisiana (Lafayette).
  5. In 2007, the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence was established in his honor to recognize African-American writers.