One of Howard University's brightest literary stars, Sherley Anne Williams traveled a long road from economic struggle to creative excellence that speaks to the perseverance of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Born in Bakersfield, California on August 25, 1944, Williams and her family (four sisters, mother Lena, and father Jesse) battled the constant threat of destitution in housing projects. For a time, the family had to pick fruit and cotton to make ends meet. Her father's death when she was almost eight and her mother's passing when she was sixteen led Williams to form friendships with people she claimed "you would call juvenile delinquents." However, she made it out of the drop-out cycle by developing a strong interest in biography and history. Her desire to write was fostered by a high school science teacher and grew after she read Richard Wright's Black Boy and Eartha Kitt's Thursday's Child. After high school, Williams attended California State University, where she studied history and graduated with a B.A. in 1966. She studied on the graduate level at Howard University (1966-1967) and moved on to earn her M.A. in English at Brown University in 1972.

Incorporating her love of biography and history, Williams also deals with women's issues and ideas about race in her novel Dessa Rose. Williams says that she fits writing into her life any way she can. "I could write in a room full of people," states Williams. "I could write on a train." It is love of writing that led The Peacock Poems to be nominated for a National Book Award in 1976, and Dessa Rose to be named one of the New York Times' notable books in 1986.

Essay by Allison Bolah of Howard University