Campus Update

By Donna Yee (December 4, 2007)

Frankie Bailey Tapped as Author of the Year

Frankie Y. Bailey, a professor in UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice, was recently picked as Author of the Year for 2007 by the Friends of the Albany Public Library. Bailey is known for her mystery series centering on Lizzie Stuart, an African American university professor and crime historian noted as a graduate from UAlbany. You Should Have Died Monday, the fourth novel in the mystery series, was released in April. It follows Lizzie Stuart as she searches for her long lost mother and the secrets of her own family's past. This search takes her from Chicago to pre-Katrina New Orleans.

Bailey was recognized as Author of the Year for 2007 by the Friends of the Albany Public Library at its annual Book & Author Luncheon, Dec. 1, in the Albany Public Library's Main Library. This is a particular honor for Bailey as she is an enthused fan and supporter of libraries. In turn, her character Lizzie Stuart spends much time conducting research in libraries.

"I was surprised and I'm very honored," said Bailey.

Recently, Bailey finished a non-fiction book titled Writing Justice: The Worldviews of African American Mystery Writers. She will continue work on two academic projects as well. The first project focuses on urban street literature; the other, on African American detectives on television crime shows. Bailey is also currently working on the fifth installment in the Lizzie Stuart mystery series, which has the working title Forty Acres and a Grave.

Bailey has been a faculty member in UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice since 1990. Her research is focused on criminal justice and American popular culture/mass media and social history, with an emphasis on class, gender, and race/ethnicity. Bailey has also written Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters in Crime and Detective Fiction, which was nominated in 1992 for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Criticism and Biography. In addition, Bailey is the co-author of Law Never Here: A Social History of African American Responses to Issues of Crime and Justice, and co-editor of Famous American Crimes and Trials and Media Representations of September 11th.