A
Official Panelist
2026 Participant · Non-Fiction · Women’s History
A'Lelia Bundles is the author of Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance - the first major biography of her great-grandmother and a finalist for the 2026 Anisfield Wolf Award - and On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, a New York Times Notable Book about her great-great-grandmother, an early 20th century hair care industry entrepreneur and philanthropist. She is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photographs and ephemera. A'Lelia worked in network television news for thirty years, first at NBC News where she was a producer for news and magazine programs, and then at ABC News where she was a World News Tonight producer, Washington, DC deputy bureau chief, and director of talent development.
She is a former vice chair of Columbia University's Board of Trustees and former board chair of the National Archives Foundation. She is a member of several non-profit boards that reflect her interests in history, journalism, social justice, the arts, and historic preservation including the March On! Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, BIO (Biographers International), Indiana Landmarks, and Columbia Global Reports.
Her articles have been published in the New York Times Book Review, Variety, O Magazine, Essence, Town & Country, and several encyclopedias. A recipient of an Emmy and a du Pont Gold Baton for her television news work, she is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Book Title(s)
- Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance