Phillips has taught in the English Department at the University of California-Riverside and at several other schools. In the following essay, she discusses the elements of Cane, the collection "Blood-Burning Moon" originally appeared in, that connect it to Modernism and to the Harlem Renaissance. She also discusses Toomer's depiction of racism in the South in the 1920s.

With its unconventional style and experimental form, Jean Toomer's Cane, which includes the story "Blood-Burning Moon," continues to puzzle those who wish to classify it as either an early Modernist text or a work of the Harlem Renaissance. Traditionally Toomer has been viewed primarily as a member of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement involving African-American writers and artists in the 1920s that emphasized black culture and identity. During this period, black authors such as Toomer, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston received their first widespread recognition and serious critical appraisal...