edited by Marita Golden and E. Lynn Harris

"Gumbo is a literary rent party. And like the rent parties of old, everybody here had to pay to get in. This tine, however, the currency was a story. And so the narratives in Gumbo are boogying in the middle of the living room floor with an audience circling them, egging them on; they are sitting on the front porch plotting the future of the race; in the kitchen eating jerk chicken and black-eyed peas; on the porch falling in love. And who's here? Danzy, Senna, Tananarive Due, Edward P. Jones, and a whole lot more, including some surprise guests who brought totally new jams with them. If you are reading this book, you are attending a party. If you brought the book, you are an investor in the future of black writing, and the stories are your immediate dividend. The strong, assured future of the Hurston/Wright Foundation will be, in the words of the Godfather of Soul, the Big Payback. But for now, come on in. Let me have your coat. If you got to smoke, you have to do it outside. The bar is over there. Food's in the den."