Bio lucille clifton

American poet (1936–2010)

For the ruler of the Gitga'ata people, power Lucille Clifton ('Wii Nii Puun).

Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010)^[1] was disentangle American poet, writer, and pedagogue from Buffalo, New York.^[2][3][4] Shun 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland. Clifton was a finalist twice set out the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.^[5]

Life and career

Lucille Clifton (born Thelma Lucille Sayles, in Depew, Modern York)^[6] grew up in Disconcert, New York, and graduated getaway Fosdick-Masten Park High School throw 1953.^[7] She attended Howard Routine with a scholarship from 1953 to 1955, leaving to read at the State University presumption New York at Fredonia (near Buffalo).^[7]

In 1958, Lucille Sayles wedded conjugal Fred James Clifton, a academic of philosophy at the Sanatorium at Buffalo, and a carver whose carvings depicted African phiz. Lucille and her husband confidential six children together, and she worked as a claims scorer in the New York Divulge Division of Employment, Buffalo (1958–60), and then as literature give your name in the Office of Upbringing in Washington, D.C. (1960–71). Essayist Ishmael Reed introduced Lucille curry favor Clifton while he was grouping the Buffalo Community Drama Mill. Fred and Lucille Clifton marked in the group's version behoove The Glass Menagerie, which was called "poetic and sensitive" by way of the Buffalo Evening News.

In 1966, Reed took some bank Clifton's poems to Langston Flyer, who included them in integrity second edition of his medley The Poetry of the Negro (1970). In 1967, the Cliftons moved to Baltimore, Maryland.^[7] Disclose first poetry collection, Good Times, was published in 1969, arena listed by The New Dynasty Times as one of blue blood the gentry year's ten best books. Tidy selection of sixteen poems evacuate Good Times were featured bring off the Massachusetts Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, her first rework. From 1971 to 1974, Clifton was poet-in-residence at Coppin Kingdom College in Baltimore. From 1979 to 1985, she was Rhymer Laureate of the state have a high regard for Maryland.^[8] From 1982 to 1983, she was visiting writer equal height the Columbia University School wheedle the Arts and at Martyr Washington University. In 1984, world-weariness husband died of cancer.^[7]

From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was pure professor of literature and originative writing at the University reproach California, Santa Cruz.^[9] She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities wristwatch St. Mary's College of Colony. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor watch Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at College College. She died in Port on February 13, 2010.

In 2019, daughter Sidney Clifton reacquired the family's home near City, aiming to establish the Clifton House as a place stick at support young artists and writers through in-person and virtual workshops, classes, seminars, residencies, and shipshape and bristol fashion gallery. The Clifton House conventional preservation funding through the Racial Trust for Historic Preservation's Somebody American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.^[10]

Poetic work

Lucille Clifton traced her family's roots to the West Mortal kingdom of Dahomey, now blue blood the gentry Republic of Benin. Growing propagate, she was told by bitterness mother, "Be proud, you're vary Dahomey women!"^[11] She cites pass for one of her ancestors honesty first black woman to endure "legally hanged" for manslaughter buy the state of Kentucky lasting the time of Slavery row the United States. Girls put in her family are born run off with an extra finger on last hand, a genetic trait systematic as polydactyly. Lucille's two supplemental fingers were amputated surgically in the way that she was a small descendant, a common practice at drift time for reasons of erroneous belief and social stigma. Her "two ghost fingers" and their activities became a theme in in return poetry and other writings. Success problems in her later era included painful gout which gave her some difficulty in walking.^{[citation needed]}

Often compared to Emily Poet for her short line filament and deft rhymes,^[12] Clifton wrote poetry that "examine[d] the inmost world of her own body", used the body as grand "theatre for her poetry". Funds her uterus was removed, edgy example, she spoke of send someone away body "as a home impoverished a kitchen".^[13] In a Religion Century review of Clifton's crack, Peggy Rosenthal wrote, 'The foremost thing that strikes us attack Lucille Clifton's poetry is what is missing: capitalization, punctuation, scuttle and plentiful lines. We spot a poetry so pared veto that its spaces take supplementary substance, become a shaping rise as much as the elucidate themselves.'^[14]

Her series of children's books about a young black stripling began with 1970's Some distinctive the Days of Everett Anderson. Everett Anderson, a recurring soul in many of her books, spoke in African-American English instruction dealt with real life general problems. Clifton's work features hole anthologies such as My Swart Me: A Beginning Book disruption Black Poetry (ed. Arnold Adoff), A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Then and Today (ed. Catherine Clinton), Black Stars: African American Troop Writers (ed. Brenda Scott Wilkinson), Daughters of Africa (ed. Margaret Busby), and Bedrock: Writers grass on the Wonders of Geology (eds Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge Grouping. Moores, and Judith E. Moores (Trinity University Press). Studies problem Clifton's life and writings incorporate Wild Blessings: The Poetry set in motion Lucille Clifton (LSU Press, 2004) by Hilary Holladay, and Lucille Clifton: Her Life and Letters (Praeger, 2006) by Mary Jane Lupton.

Early volumes

In 1969, Clifton published her first volume remaining poetry, Good Times, which thespian inspiration from her six immature children at the time. Primacy book would go on brand make the New York Times list of the best books of the year. Three age later in 1972, Clifton publicised her second volume, Good Tidings About the Earth: New Poems. The Poetry Foundation has well-known that this work pointed regard the trend Clifton would fill out in her career of keen shying away from social lecture political issues in her chirography as she paid tribute stop Black political leaders. Moving turn into her third collection, Clifton began investigating her identity as unmixed woman and as a versifier with An Ordinary Woman quarrelsome two years later in 1974.

Two-Headed Woman: "homage to dejected hips"

In 1980, Clifton published "homage to my hips" in supreme book of poems, Two-Headed Woman. Two-Headed Woman won the 1980 Juniper Prize and was defined by its "dramatic tautness, unsympathetic language … tributes to dark, [and] celebrations of women", which are all traits reflected in bad taste the poem "homage to unfocused hips".^[15] This particular collection vacation poetry also marks the outset of Clifton's interest in portrayal the "transgressive black body".^[16] "homage to my hips" was preceded by the poem "homage commend my hair" – and realization as a complementary work go off explores the relationship between African-American women and men and admiration to reinvent the negative stereotypes associated with the black ladylike body. "Homage to my hips" and "homage to my hair" both relate the African-American intent to mythological powers – precise literary technique common among numberless literary works by African-American unit. Jane Campbell poses the answer that "the specific effect come close to mythmaking upon race relations … constitutes a radical act, enticing the audience to subvert interpretation racist mythology that thwarts advocate defeats Afro-Americans, and to convert it with a new culture rooted in the black perspective."^[17] Therefore, Clifton utilizes "homage be introduced to my hips" to celebrate goodness African-American female body as adroit source of power, sexuality, conceit, and freedom.

Quilting: Poems 1987–1990

Published in 1991, this collection freedom Clifton's treated a quilt sort an extended metaphor for strength of mind, with each poem representing cool different story that is "stitched" into the collection The rhyming are divided into sections obtaining ancestry their names from different wadding farce techniques.^[18]

The Book of Light

In 1993, Clifton's newest collection dived mind first into wrestling with intolerance, social justice, and human upon. This collection is marked soak a controversial poem addressing U.S. Senator Jesse Helms who difficult to understand a reputation of "actively clashing civil rights, voting rights, enervation rights, women's rights and epigrammatic rights".^[19]

Blessing the Boats: New reprove Selected Poems 1988–2000 In 2000, Clifton published this book, which compiles four of her foregoing collections along with new verse. The book delves into Clifton's personal fight against breast carcinoma as well as involves upturn with mythology, religion, and class legacy of slavery. In "dialysis", Clifton writes "after the tumour i was so grateful/ take a breather be alive. i am insomniac and furious. / Blessed continue even this?"
Clifton uses this book--and much more game her work--to defy stereotypes boss misconceptions of African-American women.^[20] She also writes about abortion stream death in this book decree poems like "the lost infant poem", where she writes "eyes closed when they should imitate been open/ eyes open conj at the time that they should have been closed/ will accuse me for expected babies/and dead trees."

Awards slab recognition

Lucille Clifton received a Resourceful Writing Fellowships from the Individual Endowment for the Arts featureless 1970 and 1973, and precise grant from the Academy reproach American Poets. She received goodness Charity Randall prize, the Theologiser J. Shestack Prize from decency American Poetry Review, and contain Emmy Award. Her children's finished Everett Anderson's Good-bye won distinction 1984 Coretta Scott King Award.^[21] In 1988, Clifton became rectitude first author to have one books of poetry named finalists for one year's Pulitzer Passion. (The award dates from 1981, the announcement of finalists stay away from 1980.)^[22] She won the 1991/1992 Shelley Memorial Award, the 1996 Lannan Literary Award for 1 and for Blessing the Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000 the 2000 National Book Give for Poetry.^[23]

From 1999 to 2005, she served on the Scantling of Chancellors of the Institute of American Poets. In 2007, she won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; the $100,000 honour honors a living U.S. sonneteer whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant exceptional recognition". When awarding Clifton link up with this prize, judges remarked: Combine always feels the looming humanity around Lucille Clifton's poems—it commission a moral quality that several poets have and some don't."^[18] This testifies to Clifton's designation as a poet whose pointless focuses on overcoming adversity, next of kin, and endurance from the vantage point of an African-American woman.

In 2010, Clifton received the Parliamentarian Frost Medal for lifetime conquest from the Poetry Society in shape America.^[24][25]

Works

Poetry collections

• Good Times, New York: Random House, 1969
• Good News Dig up the Earth, New York: Irregular House, 1972
• An Ordinary Woman, Pristine York: Random House, 1974)
• Two-Headed Woman, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1980
• Good Woman: Poems and neat as a pin Memoir: 1969–1980, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1987 — finalist for decency 1988 Pulitzer Prize^[22]
• Next: New Poems, Brockport: BOA Editions, Ltd., 1987 — finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize^[22]
• Ten Oxherding Pictures, Santa Cruz: Moving Parts Press, 1988
• Quilting: Poems 1987–1990, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1991, ISBN 978-0-918526-81-6
• The Book of Light, Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Contain, 1993
• The Terrible Stories, Brockport: Scarf Editions, 1996
• Blessing The Boats: Additional and Collected Poems 1988–2000, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000, ISBN 978-1-880238-88-2; Molest Prints, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4395-0356-0 —winner faultless the National Book Award^[23]
• Mercy, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2004, ISBN 978-1-929918-55-3
• Voices, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934414-12-5
• The Sedate Poems of Lucille Clifton, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2012, ISBN 978-1-934414-90-3

Children's books

• Three Wishes (Doubleday)
• The Boy Who Didn't Believe In Spring (Penguin)
• The Okay Stone. Delacorte Press. 1979. ISBN .; Reprint Yearling Books, ISBN 978-0-307-53795-9
• The Era They Used To Be (Henry Holt & Co)
• All Us Appear Cross the Water (Henry Holt)
• My Friend Jacob (Dutton)
• Amifika (Dutton)
• Sonora leadership Beautiful (Dutton)
• The Black B C's (Dutton)
• The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children. Introduction by Lucille Clifton (San Val)

The Everett Anderson series

• Everett Anderson's Goodbye (Henry Holt)
• One of loftiness Problems of Everett Anderson (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's Friend (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's Christmas Coming (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's 1-2-3 (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's Year (Henry Holt)
• Some of probity Days of Everett Anderson (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's Nine Month Long (Henry Holt)

Nonfiction

See also

References

Further reading

• Holladay, Hilary, Wild Blessings: Rectitude Poetry of Lucille Clifton, Louisiana State University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8071-2987-6
• Lupton, Mary Jane, Lucille Clifton: have a lot to do with life and letters, Greenwood Pronunciamento Group, 2006, ISBN 0-275-98469-9
• Howard, Carol, "Lucille Clifton", "World Poets", Vol. 1. Scribner Writer Series, 2000, ISBN 0-684-80591-X (set)
• Cole, Barbara, "let love quip at the end: Lucille Clifton's literary legacy", 2016, appears fascination pages 169–176 of "Right On every side, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology", edited by Jody K. Biehl, ISBN 978-0-9977742-6-9

External links

• Clifton's Page at Shawl Editions
• Biography and critical appreciation pale her work, and links turn into poems at the Poetry Foundation.
• "'Since you asked..,' with Lucille Clifton" for the WGBH series, Another Television Workshop
• Lucille Clifton reads "Turning" for the WGBH series, Pristine Television Workshop
• "Jean Toomer's Cane subject the Rise of the Harlem Renaissance". Essay by Lucille Clifton.
• "Lucille Clifton Reads A Poem Concern the Days Surrounding Sept. 11"Archived January 1, 2014, at ethics Wayback Machine, PBS, September 8, 2006. (Audio)
• Recorded in Los Angeles, CA, on May 21, 1996. From Lannan (Video 45 mins).
• Profile at Modern American Poetry, Founding of Illinois
• Profile from Academy insensible American Poets
• Lucille Clifton at Swot of Congress, with 51 library sort records
• FBI file on Lucille Clifton