Martin-Ogunsola, Dellita L. 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born October 27, 1946, in New Orleans, LA; daughter of Wellie (an noncommissioned army officer) and Wilma (a homemaker) Martin; married David O. Ogunsola (a public school administrator), August 22, 1979; children: Oludare Ajayi-Martin, Oladimeji Ade-Olu. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: Louisiana State University in New Orleans, B.A., 1968; Ohio State University, M.A., 1971, Ph.D., 1975. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Church of Christ. Hobbies and other interests: Church activities, reading, films, music.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Birmingham, AL. Office—Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-4480. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Alabama at Birmingham, assistant professor, 1976-82, associate professor, 1982-99, professor of Spanish, 1999—, department chair, 1993-2002, interim director of African American studies program, 2005—. Alabama Humanities Foundation, member of board of trustees, 1997-2005, vice chair, 1999-2000, chair, 2000-01.

MEMBER:

Modern Language Association of America (chair of Discussion Group on Afro-American Literature, 1979-80), College Language Association (foreign language representative, 1996-98; president, 2000-02), Langston Hughes Society (president, 2006—).

WRITINGS:

(Adaptor and translator) The Best Short Stories of Quince Duncan/Las mejores historias de Quince Duncan, Editorial Costa Rica (San Jose, Costa Rica), 1995.

(Editor) The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 16: The Translations: Federico Garcia Lorca, Nicolas Guillen, and Jacques Roumain, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2003.

The Eve/Hagar Paradigm in the Fiction of Quince Duncan, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2004.

Contributor to books, including Singular Like a Bird: The Art of Nancy Morejon, edited by Miriam DeCosta-Willis, Howard University Press (Washington, DC), 1998; and Daughters of the Diaspora: Afra-Hispanic Writers, edited by Miriam DeCosta-Willis, Ian Randle Publishers (Miami, FL), 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including Black Scholar, Afro-Hispanic Review, Langston Hughes Review, Journal of Caribbean Studies, and South Atlantic Bulletin.

SIDELIGHTS:

Dellita L. Martin-Ogunsola told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is that I have a love affair with words, phrases, and concepts. Ever since I was a child and learned to read and write, I have been fascinated with books and the art of writing. The influences that have affected me the most include family, community, and the church, as well as writers who focus on such. My writing process is slow and meticulous because I am a perfectionist. I write and rewrite manuscripts many times before submitting them in order to try to avoid rejection (smile). I have been inspired by the burning desire and need to portray and interpret positive, wholesome, and inspirational aspects of African-American cultures (used in the plural because I am referring to people of African descent in North, Central, and South America) in literary criticism. As I have mellowed and acquired more experience, my writing has become more aligned to my own values instead of what the world (the Academy) expects."