The history of the Black Atlantic is rife with narratives of leaving and returns that can prove destabilizing factors, regarding identity and culture. Yet, it is in these stories, that a more complete image of the complexities of the lives of the people who traverse(d) the Black Atlantic becomes clearer. The literature of the men and women whose texts engage the 500-year history of the Black Atlantic narrative work to form a more nuanced image of Black life in the US, Caribbean, and Europe. In doing so, many of these works demonstrate the influence of African culture on members of the Diaspora through the inclusion of African spirituality in the texts. These texts illuminate the multifaceted nature of not only surviving the Black Atlantic experience but finding ways to utilize African-based spirituality and thrive within systems that continue to subjugate, relegate, and limit Black voices and their lived experiences. It is with consideration of this oft untold history, of these silenced voices, and of these hidden lived experiences that this panel focuses on the literature of the Black Atlantic with special emphasis on texts that include examples of African spirituality.  

This panel, which will be presented at the annual Popular Culture Association Conference in New Orleans, LA,  will offer a range of essays, examining the work of Black writers from the US, Caribbean, and Europe who explore the complex history of the African Diaspora, delving into the myths, legends, and narratives that shaped the literature of the Black Atlantic in the past century while addressing how these stories continue to provide comfort, familiarity, and a connection to an African homeland through the inclusion of African spirituality. The influence of African mythology and cultural heritage is felt in the rhizomatic interplays, storytelling, and lived experiences of members of the Black Atlantic, and the authors whose work will be examined on this panel are demonstrative of these literary connections. Essays examining the literary work of writers, such as Eintou Pearl Springer and Linton Kwesi Johnson from the Caribbean and Jewell Parker Rhodes and Ishmael Reed from the US, will illuminate the ways in which the interplays of race, and culture impact Black lives and literary production, focusing specifically on writers from across the Black Atlantic. In these essays, presenters will explore how African spiritual influences manifest in contemporary African American and Caribbean literature and offer some insight into how these narratives might continue to contribute to shaping future narratives from the Black Atlantic.