Found 13 collections related to African American women poets

The Harlem Writers Guild was established in 1950 and is the oldest organization of African-American writers in the United States. Originally founded as the Harlem Writers Club by John Henrik Clarke, Rosa Guy and John Oliver Killens, it was created as a forum for emerging African-American writers in New York City who felt alienated from the white literary mainstream. The Guild helped nurture African-American literary talent since its inception. Prominent members include Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Terry McMillan, and Louise Meriwether. The Harlem Writers Guild Press was established in 2000 as an imprint to publish the literary works of its members. The Harlem Writers Guild Records collection consists of the work of two Guild members, Grace F. Edwards and K.C. Washington. The collection contains nine manuscripts of published books and unpublished material, including three annotated manuscripts, spanning circa 1998 to 2009. Edwards is the author of the popular Mali Anderson Mystery series. The collection contains three annotated manuscripts: A Toast Before Dying (1998), Do or Die (2000), and The Viaduct (2003). It also includes the manuscript for No Time to Die (The Cereal/Serial Killer) (1999). The collection also includes a manuscript of Washington's debut novel Mourning Becomes Her, which was first published by Harlem Writers Guild Press in 2006, as well as two unpublished manuscripts: "Beauty" (2009) and "Mad River" (2000-2005). less

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor was born in Arima, Trinidad, and migrated to St. Albans Queens at the age of thirteen. Boyce-Taylor attended a Seventh Day Adventist high school in the Bronx, and completed undergraduate studies at City College of New York. Boyce-Taylor later completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine, Stonecast. She married Walt Taylor at the age of 19, and gave birth to her son, Malik Isaac, a year later. In the early 1970s, she formed the Boyce-Taylor Theatrical Company and began performing her poetry. She began taking her poetry more seriously after completing a course at Hunter College with Audre Lorde during this same time period. Boyce-Taylor has published several full-length poetry monographs including: As A Woman I Laugh and Cry: Poems, Birthsounds, Rhythms and Other Contractions, Convincing the Body, and Raw Air. Her work has been featured in magazines and journals such as Callaloo, in addition to her notable work with choreographer Ron K. Brown's Evidence Dance Company. The Cheryl Boyce-Taylor papers, 1982-2014, partially document the artistic and personal life of poet, visual and teaching artist, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor. The collection contains biographical material, such as correspondence and interview transcripts; writing material, such as manuscripts, drafts; and printed matter, such as programs, flyers, and clippings. less

Shirly Stark, born in New York City in 1927, was an African American artist, an art professor who specialized in sculpture, and a poet. Stark moved to Detroit, Michigan, with her second husband where she discovered her love of sculpting and began studying art at Wayne State University. Only five years later, Stark left her job at the Internal Revenue Service to study art in Italy. When Stark returned from Europe, she received a grant for a residency at MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire and a work-study grant from the Wurlitzer Foundation in New Mexico to continue her work as an artist. In 1972, Stark's experience with carving basalt helped her become assistant to Dimitri Hadzi, internationally renowned sculptor, while he worked on a project in Eugene, Oregon. Stark was later appointed as the first female Mellon Chair in Sculpture at Carnegie-Mellon University in 1975. She died in Denver, Colorado, in 2006. The Shirley Stark Papers contain very little biographical information and no documentation of her work as an artist. It contains a small amount of letters (1996-2001), poetry (1996-2006), drafts, and a publication. Most of the letters are written by Stark to poet Gale Jackson. The poems include a selection of Stark's completed works and drafts; some were written in Taos, New Mexico during a 1998 Wurlitzer writing fellowship. less

Patricia Spears Jones (born in 1951 in Forrest City, Arkansas) is a Black American poet, playwright, writer, educator, editor, and publisher. Her papers date from the 1970s to the 2010s, and chronicle Jones' career and personal life through correspondence; publishing contracts; drafts of poems; notebooks; ephemera; interviews; press clippings; photographs; and recorded poetry readings and performances. The collection illuminates her development as a social justice and environmental activist through her work as a poet, educator, volunteer, and non-profit development officer and administrator. less

Jewelle Gomez is a self-identified "Black", "Native", lesbian feminist poet and playwright. She has published nine books, including three books of poetry, a novel, a play, an essay collection, and two books of collaboration. Gomez is best known for her double Lambda Award winning novel, The Gilda Stories, and its subsequent theater adaptation, Bones and Ash: A Gilda Story. Born in 1948, Gomez was raised in a poor, Black neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, by her great-grandmother Grace, to whom she dedicated her first book of poetry, The Lipstick Papers (1980). The Jewelle Gomez papers include manuscripts, interviews, reviews, articles, speeches, and essays. The collection contains a photocopy of the original self-published book of poetry The Lipstick Papers, and versions of her play, "Waiting for Giovanni", which is based on James Baldwin's life right before the publication of his second and controversial novel, Giovanni's Room" in 1956. less

The Sharon Bridgforth papers, 1989-2015, document her personal life and her career as a writer, playwright, and performer. The bulk of the collection consists of her writing and materials related to productions of her plays and films, such as manuscripts and drafts, programs and promotional material, and clippings. less

Akasha Gloria Hull (born 1944) is a writer, poet, and Black feminist scholar. The Akasha Hull papers, mostly dating from the 1970s to the 2000s, document Hull's writing projects, including poetry and scholarly works, her involvement in the Combahee River Collective, and her academic career as a professor of literature and women's studies, primarily at the University of Delaware and University of California, Santa Cruz. less

Jayne Cortez (1934-2012) was a poet, performance artist, activist, small press publisher, and teacher. A prominent figure of the Black Arts Movement, Cortez was known for performing her poetry accompanied by jazz music. The Jayne Cortez papers document her artistic and professional life through published books of poetry; notebooks; event and performance files; correspondence with collaborators; and business and teaching files. less

Jayne Cortez (1934-2012) was a poet, performance artist, activist, small press publisher, and teacher. A prominent figure of the Black Arts Movement, Cortez was known for performing her poetry accompanied by jazz music. The photographs in this collection depict Cortez's childhood and family life, aspects of her creative work as a spoken word poet, and some of her academic activities. less

Alexis De Veaux (born 1948) is a writer, poet, and playwright. Her photographs, which date from 1946 to 2020, reflect her personal life and professional career. The Alexis De Veaux photographs includes studio portraits of De Veaux and others, formal documentation of performances and events, candid snapshots, travel pictures, and images De Veaux used for research purposes. less

The Maya Angelou photographs, dating from the 1920s to 2009, document the life and legacy of Maya Angelou (1928-2014), poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, dancer, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. The collection mostly celebrates her literary accomplishments. There are some photographs that date to her childhood in rural Stamps, Arkansas. less

Patricia Spears Jones (b. 1951) is a poet, playwright, educator, cultural activist, and anthologist. The collection consists of thirty-nine audio recordings and seven videos including readings, interviews with and conducted by Jones, plays, and music. less