Keith Gilyard

Keith Gilyard’s scholarship intersects all areas of writing studies—rhetoric, composition, linguistics, literature, and creative writing—and his work has frequently been devoted to making connections between personal and professional realms. Gilyard’s first book, Voices of the Self: A Study in Language Competence (1991), won the American Book Award for its engaging blend of literacy narrative with critical analysis of language and literacy development in the public educational system. Much of his work contextualizes areas where race and rhetoric overlap. His 1999 CCC essay, “African American Contributions to Composition Studies” seeks “to trace a line of thought from early rhetors and scholars to contemporary researchers … that both emphasizes critical pedagogy and values Black culture, especially its vernacular,” ¹ while his introduction to African American Rhetoric(s): Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2004) summarizes historical trends in the study of African American rhetoric. In True to the Language Game: African American Discourse, Cultural Politics, and Pedagogy (2011), he combines personal narratives about his early days in the field of rhetoric and language with later speeches on pedagogy and history. His work includes 7 monographs, 9 edited volumes, 5 books of poetry and fiction, and 27 articles. His analyses of major African American rhetoricians include Composition and Cornel West: Notes Toward a Deep Democracy (2008) and two books on writer John Oliver Killens, Liberation Memories: The Rhetoric and Poetics of John Oliver Killens (2003) and John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism (2010). Louise Thompson Patterson: A Life of Struggle for Justice is forthcoming this year from Duke University Press (2017). His other monographs include books on basic writing and critical approaches to composition and literacy. Gilyard is Distinguished Professor of English at Penn State, a former Chair of CCCC, and a former President of the NCTE/CCCC Black Caucus. In 2013, he received the CCCC Exemplar Award for outstanding contributions to the profession.