William Demby has enjoyed a distinctive literary career marked by substantial critical acclaim but a modest readership. His work does not fit tidily into a niche reserved for black writers; indeed, his writings reflect not only some aspects of black life but focus seriously upon the human conditions all people experience: Demby's literary lens focuses upon the myriad elements that illuminate character and situation in a world where moral choices create drama.

William Demby was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to William Demby and Gertrude Hendricks Demby. His youth was spent in Clarksburg, West Virginia--a coal-mining region that served as the setting for his first book, Beetlecreek. Demby had five sisters and a brother. His father worked in the natural gas branch of Standard Oil Company in West Virginia.

Demby attended West Virginia State College, where he studied in a writing class offered by Margaret Walker. His schooling was...