Daughters of Africa : an international anthology of words and writings by women of African descent from the ancient Egyptian to the present / edited and with an introduction by Margaret Busby

Originally published: New York : Pantheon Books, 1992.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [972]-1067) and index.

Geographically this voluminous collection is diverse, including women writers who were born or reside in, or who are associated with, African, Caribbean, North and South American, and European countries. But chronologically it heavily favors 20th-century writers, especially contemporary authors. The ancient tradition section fea tures Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut and Queen of Sheba Makeda, while slave narratives dominate the 19th-century period--many already published in their entirety as part of the excellent Schomburg Library of Nineteenth Century Black Women Writers (Oxford). Accompanying each author are brief biographical sketches, a reading list, and a bibliography of additional anthologies and critical works. Largely because of these scholarly additions, Busby's comprehensive anthology is an invaluable text for courses on women writers and writers of African descent.