“I have to keep that part of me”“
- Born: June 21st, 1927 Louisville, Kentucky, US
- Pronouns: She/her
- Spouse: William Shockley
- Education:
- Occupation: Author, Editor, Librarian, Critic
- Impact: Wrote novels highlighting interracial lesbian love, and the problems that those relationships face under the “triple oppression” of racism, sexism, and homophobia
- Known For: Loving Her (1974), Say Jesus and Come to Me (1985), The Black and White of It (1980)
- Awards: Lee Lynch classic award (Loving Her, 2019)
- Interesting Facts: Shockley worked as a librarian, a professor of library science, and a university archivist. She has since been encouraging libraries to place special emphasis on Afro-American collections.
From an early age, Ann Allen Shockley was encouraged to read and write her own creative works. Her eighth-grade teacher was extremely influential to Shockley and her works. She began to have an audience for her writing in high school when she became the editor for the school paper. Shockley would go on to work as a journalist and write many pieces as well as several books such as “Loving Her” which has the first openly gay African American female protagonist as well as an interracial lesbian relationship. Shockley currently resides in Tennesse.
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