Published in 2001, Fire in Beulah, Rilla Askew’s second novel, is preceded by a collection of stories, Strange Business (1992), and the novel The Mercy Seat (1998). Fire in Beulah was a recipient of the American Book Award, and it continues to be a relevant text read due to a skillful combination of history and fiction. The novel was one of the first fictional accounts drawing on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Askew followed this work with the novels Harpsong (2007), Kind of Kin (2013), and a collection of essays, Most American (2017). To date, all of her works offer a clear understanding of various social concerns blended with historical insight, voiced in …
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Citation: Hada, Ken. "Fire in Beulah". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 March 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40100, accessed 10 December 2024.]