SFD’s Writings

Derbew, Sarah (2022) Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge University Press.

1. Derbew, Sarah, Daniel Orrells and Phiroze Vasunia (2025) “Introduction.” In Classics and Race: A Historical Reader, edited by Sarah Derbew, Daniel Orrells, and Phiroze Vasunia. UCL Press.

2. Derbew, Sarah (2025) “Kebra Nagast (ክብረ ነገሥት, “The Glory of the Kings,” c. fourteenth century CE).” In Classics and Race: A Historical Reader, edited by Sarah Derbew, Daniel Orrells, and Phiroze Vasunia. UCL Press.

3. Derbew, Sarah (2025) “Afterword: Plural Possibilities.” In Classics and Race: A Historical Reader, edited by Sarah Derbew, Daniel Orrells, and Phiroze Vasunia. UCL Press.

4. Derbew, Sarah (2024) “Doublespeak in Ancient Greek and Modern Ethiopian Satire,” TAPA 154 (1): 185-211.

5. Derbew, Sarah (2023) “Representations of Black People in Mediterranean Antiquity.” In Africa and Byzantium, edited by Andrea Myers Achi, 112-13. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

6. Derbew, Sarah (2021) “Definitions and Representations of Race in Ancient Greek Literature” in A Cultural History of Race in Antiquity: Volume 1, edited by Denise McCoskey, 21-31. London: Bloomsbury.

7. Derbew, Sarah (2021) “Race in Aeschylus’ Persians and Suppliant Women” in Companion to Aeschylus, edited by Jacques Bromberg and Peter Burian. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. (BMCR review here)

8. Derbew, Sarah (2019) “(Re)membering Sara Baartman, Venus, and Aphrodite,” Classical Receptions Journal 11 (3): 336-354.

9. Derbew, Sarah (2015) “Review of Black Odysseys: The Homeric Odyssey in the African Diaspora since 1939 by Justine McConnell,” Phoenix 69 (3/4): 445-448.

1. Derbew, Sarah (2022) “A Revamped Archaeology of Blackness,” FifteenEightyFour (Cambridge University Press Blog), August 12.

2. Derbew, Sarah (2022) “Blackness in Antiquity,” Aeon, March 17.

3. Derbew, Sarah (2021) “Mapping Black Antiquity,” Black Perspectives (African American Intellectual History Blog), November 11.

4. Derbew, Sarah (2018) “An Investigation of Black Figures in Classical Greek Art,” The Iris (Behind the Scenes at the Getty), April 25.

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Interviews

1. Interviewed by Anne Stein (2023) “Revisiting Views of Blackness in Antiquity.” Haverford College Alumni Magazine, Winter.

2. Interviewed by Vignesh Ramachandran (2022) “Q&A: New Book Probes Blackness in Ancient Greek Literature and Art.” Stanford University News, November 2.

3. Interviewed by Lylaah Bhalerao (2022) “An Interview with Sarah Derbew, author of Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity.” Society for Classical Studies Blog, November 1.

4. Interviewed by Stephanie Wong (2022) “Finding Black People in Antiquity: Talking the Future of Classics with Sarah Derbew.” Public Books, May 19.

5. Interviewed by Aliya Ram (2021) “Princeton Teaches Ge’ez for the First Time.” Princeton University Classics Department, September 20.

6. Interviewed by Elena Giusti (2018) “Decolonizing Blackness Alongside the Classics Curriculum: A Conversation with Dr. Sarah Derbew.” University of Warwick, October 31.

7. Interviewed by Erica Eisen (2018) “Hidden Figures: The Importance of Remembering Black Classicists.” The Guardian, June 4.

8. Interviewed by Christopher Thompson (2018) “Blacks in the Ancient World: Documentary Project.” Concerned Journalists, January 29.

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Podcasts

1. Interviewed by Bill Mickey (2023), “Dr. Sarah Derbew on the Future of Classical Studies (Part Two).” The Authority File, March 6.

2. Interviewed by Bill Mickey (2023), “Dr. Sarah Derbew on Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity (Part One).” The Authority File, February 13.

3. Interviewed by Jonathan Van Ness (2022) “How Diverse Was the Ancient Mediterranean? With Professors Sarah Derbew and Nandini Pandey.” Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, October 12.

4. Interviewed by Amanda J. Hall (2022) “New Books in African American Studies: Sarah F. Derbew ‘Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity’.” New Books Network, October 4.

5. Interviewed by Isis Thompson (2019) “In Search of Black History with Bonnie Greer.” Chalk and Blade: Creative Audio, April 3.


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1. Video series with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (2024) “Discovering Blackness in Antiquity with Dr. Sarah Derbew.” Left of Black: Black Studies for the Digital Soul (John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University), June 28.

2. Webinar (2022) “Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity Book Launch.” Cambridge University Press, May 2.

3. Webinar with Dr. Claire Lyons (2021) “Art Break: Seeing Blackness in Greek and Etruscan Art.” Getty Villa, September 2.