J. California Cooper

Joan Cooper (November 10, 1931–September 20, 2014), known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978 for her play Strangers. Cooper also received an American Book Award in 1989, a James Baldwin Writing Award, and a Literary Lion Award (1988) from the American Library Association.

Early life Joan “California” Cooper was born on November 10, 1931 in Berkeley, California to Joseph Cooper and Maxine Rosemary Lincoln Cooper. She was the youngest of five siblings, having three sisters (one deceased, Shirley May) and one brother. Her father worked as a scrap metal maker and her mother worked as a welder in World War II before owning a beauty salon later on.

Life and career

Writing career While Cooper was beginning her writing career, she worked several jobs, including being a secretary, teamster, truck-driver, manicurist, and even at one time working on the Alaskan pipelines.

Personal life Much of Cooper's personal life beyond her early stages of life is unknown. Cooper was known to have kept her life very private, going under the pen name "California" Cooper (adopted from her home-state and inspired by Tennessee Williams

The Wake of the Wind (1998) Set on a Texas plantation in the 1860s, The Wake of the Wind tells the story of Lifee and her husband, Mordecai, who attempt to a find better life for themselves and their children in the new emancipated United States. This novel displays the cruel discrimination African-Americans faced after the Civil-War concluded, and the hardships African-Americans went through in hopes to find a life beyond slavery and the plantations. 1987: Some Soul to Keep 1991: Family 1991: The Matter Is Life 1994: In Search of Satisfaction 1996: Some Love, Some Pain, Some Time: Stories 1998: The Wake of the Wind 2001: The Future Has a Past 2003: Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife (contributor), edited by Carleen Brice 2004: Some People, Some Other Place 2006: Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns: Stories 2009: Life is Short but Wide