Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
experience. He was U.S. nominee for the
Hans Christian Andersen Award
The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...
in 2006
[ and he won the ]Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
The Children's Literature Legacy Award (known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal until 2018) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrat ...
for his contribution to American children's literature in 2009.[ His picture book '']Freedom Over Me
''Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan'' is a young adult picture book written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2016. It is set in a slave-owning st ...
'' was short-listed for the 2016 Kirkus Prize and received a Newbery Honor
Newbery is a surname.
People
*Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver
*David Newbery (born 1943), British economist
*Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot
*Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...
.
Early years
Childhood
Ashley Frederick Bryan was born on July 13, 1923, in Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
and raised in the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, both in New York City. His father worked as a printer of greeting cards and loved birds, and Bryan remembered their apartment as full of a hundred birds. He was born the second of six children and grew up with his three cousins. Bryan recalled his childhood in New York City during the 1930s as an idyllic time, full of art and music. He learned to draw, paint, and play instruments at school from artists and musicians participating in the Work Projects Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
program. With books he checked out from the library, Bryan made his own, temporary collection at home. He particularly enjoyed poetry, folktales, and fairy tales; stories that could be told within a brief span of pages.
University studies and military service
Bryan attended the Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
Art School, the only African-American student at that time. He had applied to other schools who had rejected him on the basis of race, but Cooper Union administered its scholarships in a blind test.
At the age of nineteen, World War II interrupted his studies. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and assigned to serve in a segregated unit as a member of a Port Battalion, landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was so ill-suited to this work that his fellow soldiers often encouraged him to step aside and draw. He always kept a sketch pad in his gas mask. His book, Infinite Hope, is an autobiographical journey during the war.
In 1946, he enrolled at Columbia University School of General Studies
The School of General Studies, Columbia University (GS) is a liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such c ...
to study philosophy. After the war, Bryan received a Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
to study at the University of Marseille
Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...
at Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
and later returning for two years to study at the University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...
in Germany.
Teaching career
Bryan taught art at Queen's College, Philadelphia College of Art
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...
, the Dalton School
The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...
, Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
, and Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
. He retired as emeritus professor of art at Dartmouth in 1988.
Retirement and death
In the late 1980s, when Bryan retired from Dartmouth, he moved to Islesford, Maine
Islesford is a hamlet located on Little Cranberry Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. It is one of the five islands of the town of Cranberry Isles. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Mount Desert Island, which is the site ...
, on Little Cranberry Island
Little Cranberry Island is an island of roughly located in the U.S. state of Maine. It is one of the five islands of the Town of Cranberry Isles, Maine
Cranberry Isles is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 160 a ...
. He lived there until he moved to Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...
, where his niece lived, in 2019.
The Ashley Bryan Center (501c3) was formed in 2013 to preserve, protect and care for Bryan's art, his collections, his books and to promote his legacy. In 2019, the Center and University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
reached an agreement to archive Bryan's works at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts.
Bryan died at his niece's home on February 4, 2022, at the age of 98. He had congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
.
Awards and honors
Bryan has received two American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
career literary awards for his "significant and lasting contributions", the 2009 Wilder Medal and the 2012 King–Hamilton Award. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal
The Children's Literature Legacy Award (known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal until 2018) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrat ...
from the Association for Library Service to Children
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association, and it is the world's largest organization dedicated to library service to children. Its members are concerned with creating a better future ...
(ALSC) biennially recognizes one writer or illustrator of children's books published in the U.S. The committee named ''Dancing Granny'', ''Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum'', and ''Beautiful Blackbird'' in particular and cited his "varied art forms".[ The Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award from the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) biennially recognizes one African-American writer or illustrator of children's or ]young-adult literature
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
.[
In 2008 Bryan was named a Literary Lion by The New York Public Library. In 2008, the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American History and Culture housed in the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library hosted the "Ashley Bryan Children's Literary Festival." He also received the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion from the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in 1994.
For his lifetime work as a children's illustrator, Bryan was U.S. nominee in 2006 for the biennial, international ]Hans Christian Andersen Award
The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...
, the highest recognition for creators of children's books.[
The Ashley Bryan Art series was established at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center of the ]Broward County Library
The Broward County Library is a public library system in Broward County, Florida, in the United States. The system contains 38 branch locations and circulates over 10.5 million items annually. The system includes the Main Library in Fort Lauderd ...
in 2002. Dr. Henrietta M. Smith, Professor Emerita at the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
(USF) School of Information, worked with the Broward County Library to establish the children's book author and illustrator art series named for Ashley Bryan. Dr. Smith was also the lector for the 2003 Alice G. Smith Lecture, a lecture series held at the USF School of Information "to honor the memory of its first director, Alice Gullen Smith, known for her work with youth and bibliotherapy." In 2012 the Ashley Bryan Art series celebrated ten years of exhibits and programs. "The series began with Ashley Bryan submitting eight original art pieces to the library to serve as core of the art collection." It became "a children's book author and illustrator series which has brought Coretta Scott King-Award winning authors and illustrators whose work reflected African culture to the library". "The Ashley Bryan Art series has had a long-lasting cultural effect upon the community bringing children and families into the library and engaging youth with children’s book art and illustrations."
Bryan was honored by Maine governor Janet Mills
Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 75th governor of Maine since January 2019. She previously served as the Maine Attorney General on two occasions.
A member of the Democratic Party ...
who proclaimed July 13, 2020 "Ashley Frederick Bryan Day" for his lifetime contributions to the state.
Awards for particular works
For particular books he has been honored several times including multiple Coretta Scott King Awards and honors for illustration, the inaugural Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award from the Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
, the Lupine Award from the Maine Library Association, and the Golden Kite Award for nonfiction.
* 1981, Coretta Scott King Award
The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award rec ...
for illustration, ''Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum''
* 1983, Coretta Scott King Honor for illustration, ''I'm Going to Sing: Black American Spirituals''
* 1986, Coretta Scott King Honor for writing and illustration, ''Lion and the Ostrich Chicks and Other African Folk Tales''
* 1988, Coretta Scott King Honor for illustration, ''What a Morning! The Christmas Story in Black Spirituals''
* 1992, Coretta Scott King Honor for illustration, ''All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of African American Spirituals''
* 1993, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, Lupine Award, ''Sing to the Sun''
* 1998, Coretta Scott King Honor for illustration, ''Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry''
* 2004, Coretta Scott King Award for illustration, ''Beautiful Blackbird''
* 2008, Coretta Scott King Award for illustration, ''Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals''
* 2010, Golden Kite Award
The Golden Kite Awards are given annually by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an international children's writing organization, to recognize excellence in children’s literature. The award is a golden medallion showing a ...
for nonfiction, ''Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song''
* 2017, Newbery Honor
Newbery is a surname.
People
*Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver
*David Newbery (born 1943), British economist
*Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot
*Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...
, Coretta Scott King Honor for writing and illustration, Lupine Award for picture book, Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...
for Young Readers' Literature finalist, '' Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan''
* 2020, Carter G. Woodson
Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...
Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award for illustration, ''Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace''
Works
Bibliography
* ''Black Boy'' by Richard Wright (1950)
* ''Fabliaux: Ribald Tales from the Old French'' translated by Robert Hellman and Richard O'Gorman (1965)
* ''Moon, For What Do You Wait? Poems by Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
'' (1967)
* ''The Ox of the Wonderful Horns and Other African Folktales'' (1971)
* ''Walk Together Children: Black American Spirituals'' Vol 1 (1974)
* ''The Adventures of Aku'' (1976)
* ''The Dancing Granny'' (1977)
* ''I Greet the Dawn: Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...
'' (1978)
* ''Jethro and the Jumbie'' by Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper (born 23 May 1935) is an English author of children's books. She is best known for '' The Dark Is Rising'', a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian le ...
(1979)
* ''Jim Flying High'' by Mari Evans
Mari Evans (July 16, 1919 – March 10, 2017) was an African-American poet, writer, and dramatist associated with the Black Arts Movement. Evans received grants and awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Indianapolis Public Libra ...
(1979)
* ''Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum'' (1980)
* ''I’m Going to Sing: Black American Spirituals'' Vol 2 (1982)
* ''The Cat’s Purr'' (1985)
* ''Lion and the Ostrich Chicks and Other African Folk Poems'' (1986)
* ''What a Morning: The Christmas Story in Black Spirituals'' by John Langstaff
John Meredith "Jack" Langstaff (December 24, 1920 – December 13, 2005), a concert baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from th ...
(1987)
* ''Sh-Ko and his Eight Wicked Brothers'' illustrated by Fumio Yoshimura (1988)
* ''Turtle Knows Your Name'' (1989)
* ''Pourquoi Tales: The Cat's Purr, Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together, the Fire Bringer'' with Margaret Hodges
Sarah Margaret Hodges née Moore (July 26, 1911 – December 13, 2005) was an American writer of children's books, librarian, and storyteller.
Sarah Margaret Moore was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Arthur Carlisle Moore and Annie Marie Moo ...
(1989)
* ''All Night, All Day: A Child’s First Book of African-American Spirituals'' (1991)
* ''Climbing Jacob’s Ladder'' by John Langstaff (1991)
* ''Sing to the Sun'' (1992)
* ''Christmas Gif’: An Anthology of Christmas Poems, Songs and Stories Written by and About African-Americans'' by Charemae Rollins (1993)
* ''The Story of Lightning and Thunder'' (1993, 1999)
* ''What a Wonderful World'' by George David Weiss
George David Weiss (April 9, 1921 – August 23, 2010) was an American songwriter and arranger, who was a president of the Songwriters Guild of America.
He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Biography
Weiss was born in a Jewish fa ...
and Bob Thiele
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
*Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname) ...
(1995)
* ''It's Kwanzaa Time!'' by Linda and Clay Goss (1995)
* ''The Story of the Three Kingdoms'' by Walter Dean Myers
Walter Dean Myers (born Walter Milton Myers; August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014) was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Harlem. A tough childho ...
(1995)
* ''The Sun Is So Quiet: Poems by Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets,Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds)"Nikki Giovanni" ''E ...
'' (1996)
* ''Ashley Bryan’s ABC of African American Poetry'' (1997, 2001)
* ''Carol of the Brown King: Nativity Poems by Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
'' (1998)
* ''The House with No Door: African Riddle-Poems'' by Brian Swann (1998)
* ''Ashley Bryan’s African Tales, Uh Huh'' (1998)
* ''Why Leopard Has Spots, Dan Stories from Liberia'' by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert (1998)
* ''The Night Has Ears: African Proverbs'' (1999)
* ''Aneesa Lee and the Weaver’s Gift'' by Nikki Grimes
Nikki Grimes (born October 20, 1950) is an American author of books written for children and young adults, as well as a poet and journalist.
Background and career
Grimes was born in Harlem, New York.
In a conversation with a Reading Is Fundament ...
(1999)
* ''Jump Back, Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar'', co-illustrators Carole Byard
Carole Marie Byard (July 22, 1941 – January 11, 2017) was an American visual artist, illustrator, and photographer. She was an award-winning illustrator of children's books, and the recipient of a Caldecott Honor, as well as multiple Coretta S ...
, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney (December 22, 1939 – October 20, 2021) was an American illustrator and writer of children's literature. Pinkney illustrated over 100 books since 1964, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. Pinkney's works addresse ...
, and Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold (born October 8, 1930 in Harlem, New York City) is an American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist, best known for her narrative quilts.
Early life
Faith Ringgold was born the youngest of three children ...
(1999)
* ''How God Fix Jonah'' by Lorenz Graham (2000)
* ''Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young Poets'' by Naomi Shahab Nye (2000)
* ''Beautiful Blackbird'' (2003)
* ''A Nest Full of Stars'' by James Berry (2004)
* ''Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals'' (2007)
* ''My America'' by Jan Spivey Gilchrist, co-illustrator (2007)
* ''Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song'' (2009)
* ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' by Cecil Alexander (2010)
* ''Who Built the Stable?'' (2012)
* ''Can’t Scare Me!'' (2013)
* ''Ashley Bryan’s Puppets: Making Something From Everything'' (2014)
* ''By Trolley Past Thimbledon Bridge'' illustrated by Marvin Bileck (2015)
* ''Sail Away'' by Langston Hughes (2015)
* '' Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life'' (2016)
* ''I Am Loved'' by Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets,Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds)"Nikki Giovanni" ''E ...
(2018)
* ''Blooming Beneath the Sun'' by Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...
(2019)
* ''Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace'' (2020)[
]
Filmography
*''I Know a Man ... Ashley Bryan'' (2016) - dir. Richard Kane
Stage works
American composer Alvin Singleton
Alvin Singleton (born December 28, 1940; Brooklyn, New York) is a composer from the United States. Born and raised in New York City, he received his music education from New York University (B.A.), studying with Hall Overton and Charles Wuorinen, ...
composed ''Sing to the Sun'', a commissioned work for the 1995-1996 season by a consortium of five musical festivals. The work consisted of a chamber orchestra made up of an oboe, clarinet, viola, piano and percussion, children's voices and a narrator, and drew upon the collection of poems by Bryan entitled: ''Sing to the Sun: Poems and Pictures''. Bryan himself narrated the premiere and all the following performances.
On June 10, 2017 the world premiere of Alliance Theatre
The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in Atlanta, Georgia, based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, and is the winner of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal T ...
’s production ''Dancing Granny'' took place at the Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia.
History
Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...
's Conant Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The musical play was adapted for the stage from Bryan's book of the same name with music composed by Jireh Breon Holder and choreography by Ameenah Kaplan.
In 2018, Bryan collaborated with composer Aaron Robinson on an African-American requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
titled ''A Tender Bridge''; a 90-minute, 13 movement work that celebrates Bryan's life and career based on his writings that uses "jazz, ragtime, Negro spirituals, Southern hymns and other musical idioms, along with a full choir, gospel choir, children’s choir, orchestra jazz ensemble and multiple narrators."
In April 2021, Alliance Theatre
The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in Atlanta, Georgia, based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, and is the winner of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal T ...
also staged ''Beautiful Blackbird Live'', based on the children's book by Bryan, ''Beautiful Blackbird''. The concert version tells the story about five birds that have flown from Africa to sing about how beautiful it is to be black.
See also
References
* (subscription required)
External links
*
Ashley Bryan's Wish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Ashley
1923 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American memoirists
African-American children's writers
African-American memoirists
American children's book illustrators
American children's writers
Columbia University School of General Studies alumni
Cooper Union alumni
Dartmouth College faculty
Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal winners
Military personnel from New York City
People from Hancock County, Maine
People from Harlem
United States Army personnel of World War II
Writers from the Bronx
Fulbright alumni