Ashon Crawley Explained

Ashon T. Crawley is an American religious studies scholar, author, and multidisciplinary artist. He is a professor of religious studies and African American and African studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility, on aesthetics and performance as modes of social imagination,^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} and The Lonely Letters, an epistolary, semi-autobiographical work.^{[5] [6]} The Lonely Letters won the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction^[7] and the Believer Book Award for Nonfiction.^[8] Crawley is working on a book about the Hammond organ’s historical role in Black church and social life.^{[9] [10]}

Education

Crawley earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, then received a Master of Theological Studies from Emory University in 2007.^{[11] [12] [13] [14]} In 2013, he completed his PhD at Duke University.^[15]

Publications

• Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility, published October 3, 2016 by Fordham University Press^[16]
• The Lonely Letters, published April 10, 2020 by Duke University Press^[17]

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External links

• Official website
• Crawley reading from The Lonely Letterson YouTube
• Appearances on NPR
• Writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books

Notes and References

1. Scott. Mikana. 2017-07-01. Book Review: Blackpentecostal breath: The aesthetics of possibility. Journal of Black Studies. en. 48. 5. 528–531. 10.1177/0021934717706973. 152085028 . 0021-9347. 2021-05-18. 2021-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519124811/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021934717706973. live. subscription.
2. Shelley. Braxton. 2020-02-29. Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility. Yale Journal of Music & Religion. 5. 2. 10.17132/2377-231X.1183. 2377-231X. 2021-05-18. 2021-05-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518164311/https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yjmr/vol5/iss2/12/. live. free.
3. Félix-Jäger. Steven. 2017-01-01. Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility, written by Ashon T. Crawley. Pneuma. en. 39. 3. 391–394. 10.1163/15700747-03903007. 0272-0965. 2021-05-18. 2021-05-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518164324/https://brill.com/view/journals/pneu/39/3/article-p391_16.xml. live. subscription.
4. Johnson. Jasmine. 2017. Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility by Ashon Crawley (review). Dance Research Journal. 49. 2. 109–111. 10.1017/S0149767717000274 . 193934828 . 1940-509X. subscription.
5. Chevan . Jesse . View of Crawley, Ashon. 2020. The Lonely Letters. Durham: Duke University Press. Current Musicology . Current Musicology . Spring 2020 . 106 . 18 May 2021 . 19 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210519124746/https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/article/view/6761/3527 . live .
6. Pak . Yumi . The Lonely Letters by Ashon T. Crawley (review) . American Studies . 2020 . 59 . 2 . 57–58 . 10.1353/ams.2020.0017 . 242439770 . 18 May 2021 . 2153-6856. subscription .
7. Web site: 2021 Winners. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602002521/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/2021-winners/. 2021-06-02. 2021-06-02. Lambda Literary. en.
8. Web site: 2020 Believer Book Award Winners and Finalists . 2025-05-14 . Believer Magazine . en-US.
9. Web site: Ashon Crawley . 2025-05-14 . Department of Religious Studies . University of Virginia . en.
10. Web site: 2021-02-17 . Made Instrument, an Introduction . 2025-05-14 . School of Religion Queen's University.
11. Web site: 2022-03-01 . Volume 68 Number 25 . 2025-05-14 . University of Pennsylvania Almanac . en.
12. Web site: 2025-05-05 . Ashon Crawley: Performance art can express the deep despair and deep joy of the church experience . 2025-05-14 . Faith and Leadership . en.
13. Web site: Presenters . 2025-05-14 . National Museum of African American History and Culture.
14. Web site: Ashon Crawley . 2025-05-14 . Knowledge Commons . en-US.
15. Crawley . Ashon . Black Sacred Breath: Historicity, Performance and the Aesthetics of BlackPentecostalism . 2013 . 2025-05-14 . PhD . Duke University . 10161/7215 .
16. Web site: Blackpentecostal Breath . 2025-05-14 . Fordham University Press . en-US.
17. Web site: The Lonely Letters . 2025-05-14 . Duke University Press . en.
18. Web site: Past Recipients Archive . 2025-05-14 . American Musicological Society . en-US.