New book brings Nellie McKay out of the shadows
The late UW–Madison professor’s groundbreaking work illuminated literature by Black women, but her own life was largely private.
May 3, 2021 7:00 AM Doug Moe
Updated:
New book Half in Shadow reveals the life and legacy of former UW–Madison professor Nellie McKay.
Nellie McKay spent much of her distinguished career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison charting and celebrating African American literature, in particular the work of African American women.
When McKay died, in 2006, a UW–Madison colleague, Craig Werner, told the New York Times that McKay “was the central figure in the establishing of Black women’s studies as a presence in academic and intellectual life.”