Alice Faye Duncan
I write books for young learners.
I speak to students about the Civil Rights Movement.
I lead writing workshops.
Write ON!
My Genesis
My Creative Lineage
My Creative Lineage
I am my mother's only child and Memphis is my home. I went to library school at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). While there, Professor Glenn Estes introduced me to picture books. At the University of Memphis, I took a Children's Literature Class from Professor Ramona Mahood. She introduced me to author, Charles Turner, who inspir
I am my mother's only child and Memphis is my home. I went to library school at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). While there, Professor Glenn Estes introduced me to picture books. At the University of Memphis, I took a Children's Literature Class from Professor Ramona Mahood. She introduced me to author, Charles Turner, who inspired me to write WILLIE JEROME--my very first book. Macmillan published it in 1995. Picture books are my favorite to write! They allow me to "sing" without a music education or singing voice.
YOU DON'T WANT ME TO SING. Really.
MY TOP 5 SONGS
Optimistic--Sounds of Blackness
Waters of March--Antonio Jobim
Spellbound--Joe Sample
You Brought Sunshine--Clark Sisters
Better Days--Dianne Reeves
MEMPHIS, MARTIN AND THE MOUNTAINTOP
A 2019 Coretta Scott King Honor Medal
Also voted a "Best Picture Book in 2018' by Kirkus, SLJ and Booklist
My Creative Lineage
My Creative Lineage
My Creative Lineage
I discovered the poets, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, when I was a child searching the crowded shelves in my parents' personal library. While I loved each poet, my early writing was most similar to Paul Laurence Dunbar. I wrote for the ear to hear and the voice to speak words like I heard them spoken in sch
I discovered the poets, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, when I was a child searching the crowded shelves in my parents' personal library. While I loved each poet, my early writing was most similar to Paul Laurence Dunbar. I wrote for the ear to hear and the voice to speak words like I heard them spoken in school, church and the sundry store. Langston, Gwen and I, have Dunbar in common. It was Paul Laurence Dunbar who moved us early in life to make words our vocation. Words are my work and my pathway to words began with poetry.
MY TOP 5 POEMS
Dreams--Langston Hughes
Celebrate With Me--Lucille Clifton
Little Brown Baby--Paul Laurence Dunbar
Second Sermon on the Warpland--Gwendolyn Brooks
Things--Eloise Greenfield
HONEY BABY SUGAR CHILD
#1 Read-Aloud for Babies
Read this book with SOUL!
My Books
My Creative Lineage
My Books
My picture books include biographies of Black artists and moments in American History seldom told. I also write lyrical stories that celebrate the sustaining power of love between a mother and child. My books are illustrated by award winning artists like Gregory Christie, Xia Gordon, Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (YES! of the Famous Pinkney Fa
My picture books include biographies of Black artists and moments in American History seldom told. I also write lyrical stories that celebrate the sustaining power of love between a mother and child. My books are illustrated by award winning artists like Gregory Christie, Xia Gordon, Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (YES! of the Famous Pinkney Family) and Mary Uhles. MEMPHIS, MARTIN AND THE MOUNTAINTOP won a 2019 Coretta Scott Honor Medal for illustrations. MORE good news is brewing! Will you gift my 5 books to a favorite young reader in your life?
MY TOP 5 BOOKS--(Alphabetical Order)
HONEY BABY SUGAR CHILD
JUST LIKE A MAMA
MEMPHIS, MARTIN AND THE MOUNTAINTOP
A SONG FOR GWENDOLYN BROOKS
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN TENNESSEE
JUST LIKE A MAMA--Order today!
Here is a love poem celebrating all children--chosen, cherished and loved. Families are families forever and always. Love is the tie that binds.
2022 (Available Now)
The Story of Juneteenth Through the Eyes of a Child.
This picture book biography also includes a recipe for "Red Juneteenth Punch."
Order the Book Below and View Book Review:
2022 (Available Now)
Words for the Heart and Mind
This critical civil rights book for middle-graders examines the little-known Fayette County Tent City Movement in the late 1950s and reveals what is possible when people unite and fight for the right to vote.
The late 1950s was a turbulent time in Fayette County, Tennessee. Black and white children went to different schools. Jim Crow signs hung high. And while Black hands in Fayette were free to work in the fields as sharecroppers, the same Black hands were barred from casting ballots in public elections. If they dared to vote, they faced threats of violence by the local Ku Klux Klan or White citizens. It wasn't until Black landowners organized registration drives to help Black citizens vote did change begin--but not without white farmers' efforts to prevent it. They evicted Black sharecroppers off their land, leaving families stranded and forced to live in tents. White shopkeepers blacklisted these families, refusing to sell them groceries, gasoline, and other necessities. But the voiceless did finally speak, culminating in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which legally ended voter discrimination. Powerfully conveyed through interconnected stories and told through the eyes of a child, this book combines poetry, prose, and stunning illustrations to shine light on this forgotten history.
Arriving Fall--2022
Summer--2022
YELLOW DOG BLUES is a Blues Fable. Bo Willie wakes-up to discover his hound dog missing. He must find the dog before sunset. The journey begins! Bo Willie pursues a grand adventure, traveling the Famous Blues Trail up Highway 61 in the Mississippi Delta. Riding in his aunt's big Cadillac, they stop at Dockery Farms where Blues was born. They boogie with Willie Seaberry at his Blues Cafe in Merigold. They stop in Rosedale to search the Crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul. Beale Street is the last stop. Will there be a happy reunion? No matter what--LOVE NEVER FAILS.