James Baldwin, African American writer, essayist, dramatist and social critic. Born in 1924 in a black ghetto in New York City, he wrote quite a lot throughout his life. He wrote six novels, four plays and more than a dozen collections of essays. His works cover a wide range of topics. His novel "Calling to Heaven", Wright's "Native Son" and Ellison's "The Invisible Man" are listed as models of African American literature in the 1940s and 1950s. In the development of African American literature after World War II, Baldwin played a connecting role and was a "truly indispensable" writer.