Introduction

William Melvin Kelley 1937–

Black American novelist and short story writer.

A fabulist in some respects, Kelley grounds his fanciful images in a coolly realistic appraisal of the current American scene. Formally, his writing has grown more experimental. His novel, Dunfords Travels Everywheres, examines the question of black identity, in language combining black English, Swahili, and standard English.

(See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 77-80.)

Source: Contemporary Literary Criticism, ©1982 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.