It was in Europe that Baldwin wrote and published his first and perhaps most critically acclaimed piece of fiction: Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), a novel about religion and the African American experience. With Wright's help, Baldwin won a literary grant, which he used to move to Paris and support his writing. Many critics have noted that the cadences and tones of the Bible influenced Baldwin's later writings.īy 1944 Baldwin had moved to Greenwich Village, where he met and developed a friendship with Richard Wright, a preeminent African American writer. As a teenager, Baldwin emulated his stepfather, a strict preacher, by preaching to a small congregation and becoming increasingly involved with religion. One of nine children, Baldwin discovered his passion for reading and writing at a young age and could often be found in the library. The grandson of a slave, James Baldwin was born, like the protagonists of his short story " Sonny's Blues," into poverty in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Baldwin's fiery essays and fiction addressed issues of race, poverty, power, and justice. James Baldwin was a well-known public figure and American writer, whose works played a significant role in the African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.