The Fire This Time: African-American Plays for the 21st Century
by Robert Alexander, Harry Justin Elam

A major new anthology of African-American plays, including: In the Blood, by Suzan-Lori Parks, an examination of a homeless black woman and her children, evoking The Scarlet Letter.

Civil Sex, by Brian Freeman, a look at the intersections of civil rights and homosexuality based on the life of activist Bayard Rustin.

The Dark Kalamazoo, by Oni Faidi Lampley, a tale of isolation and rediscovery as a young black co-ed comes of age during a journey to Africa.

King Hedley II, by August Wilson, set during 1985 in two tenement backyards of Pittsburgh's Hill District, this play traces the triumphs and trials of a community.

Insurrection: Holding History, by Robert O'Hara, in which the lives of a young gay Ph

D student and his 189-year-old great-great-grandfather are transported back to the time of the Nat Turner slave rebellion.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy,, by Lynn Nottage, in which an interracial marriage threatens to divide a black family during the Harlem Renaissance.

A Preface to the Alien Garden, by Robert Alexander, a study of the gangsta lifestyle in present-day Kansas City.

A Rhyme Deferred, by Kamilah Forbes and Hip-Hop Junction, an Afro-centric update of the Cain and Abel story.

Slanguage,, by Universes, rhyme, roots, rhythm to a hip-hop beat.

A story of inner-city life in New York.