Loading...
Creator
De Veaux, Alexis, 1948-
Call number
Sc MG 802
Physical description
32.38 linear feet (75 boxes, 1 oversize folder). 23.6 kilobytes (1 computer files)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Alexis De Veaux papers, Sc MG 802, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
Home to Harlem Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Alexis De Veaux (born 1948, New York City) is a writer, poet, and playwright. The Alexis De Veaux papers, which date from the 1960s to 2020s, consist of writings, correspondence, and journals documenting her personal life and career.

Biographical/historical information

Alexis De Veaux (born 1948, New York City) is a writer, poet, and playwright. Born to parents Richard Hill and Mae Gould De Veaux, Alexis was the second of eight siblings, growing up in Harlem and the South Bronx. She attended Cornell University from 1967 to 1969, then finished her degree at SUNY Empire State College (BA, 1976).

De Veaux's career as a writer began in the early 1970s, when she joined a writer's workshop run by Fred Hudson at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center in Harlem. Her first published story, "Remember Him an Outlaw," appeared in the Fall 1972 issue of Black Creation. The following year, she published her first books—Na-Ni, a children's story, and Spirits in the Street, a fictionalized poetic memoir about growing up in Harlem. Her other published works include another children's book, An Enchanted Hair Tale (1987), poetry volumes Blue Heat (1985) and Spirit Talk (1997), biographies Don't Explain: A Song of Billie Holiday (1980) and Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde (2004), and the experimental fiction works Yabo (2014) and JesusDevil (2023). Her work has also appeared in various collections of Black lesbian writing, including Afrekete (1995) and Does Your Mama Know? (1997).

From the late 1970s to the 1990s, De Veaux was an editor at Essence magazine, to which she contributed a number of articles, ranging from personal essays to journalistic pieces, including an interview with Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in 1990.

She is also the author of multiple plays that have been produced Off Broadway and in regional theaters, and filmed versions of her plays The Tapestry and Circles, directed by Maya Angelou, aired on the Los Angeles public television show Visions in 1976. In 1977, she co-founded the Flamboyant Ladies Theater Company with her partner at the time, actress Gwendolyn Hardwick. In 1980, she started the Gap Tooth Girlfriends, a writing workshop for women of color; the group, which included Jewelle Gomez, Lorraine Bethel, and Sapphire, published two anthologies, in 1981 and 1986.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, De Veaux taught literature and creative writing at various colleges, including Sarah Lawrence, Vermont College, Norwich University, and Wabash College. In 1990, she enrolled at SUNY Buffalo, earning an MA (1991) and a PhD (1992) in American studies. She was a professor in American and women's studies at SUNY Buffalo from 1992 until her retirement in 2012.

De Veaux had a longtime partner, Loyce Stewart, who died in 2005. As of 2023, she is married to visual artist Sokari Ekine.

Sources: "About," Alexis De Veaux (website), accessed August 31, 2023, alexisdeveaux.com/about.

Ramsey, Priscilla R., "Alexis Deveaux (24 September 1948-)" Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale: 1985.

Scope and arrangement

The Alexis De Veaux papers, which date from the 1960s to 2020s, document De Veaux's personal life and career as a writer, poet, and playwright.

Personal materials include extensive correspondence from family and friends, including a number of other notable writers such as June Jordan and Alice Walker. There are also over fifty of De Veaux's journals, notebooks, and appointment books, spanning the 1970s to 1990s, containing her diary entries, notes, writings, and sketches. There is a small amount of other personal items, including resumes and interviews with De Veaux, original artwork, and items such as passports and diplomas.

Professional materials include files relating to artists and writers groups of which De Veaux was a part, including the Flamboyant Ladies Theatre Company and Gap Tooth Girlfriends, as well as files relating to various readings, conferences, and workshops she participated in. There is additionally correspondence with publishers and literary agents, colleges and universities where De Veaux taught, and various organizations of which De Veaux was a member, including professional associations such as the Author's Guild and political groups such as Madre.

The largest portion of the collection is the writings, which include drafts of De Veaux's work across genres: fiction, biography, poetry, plays, journalistic articles, and academic lectures. All of De Veaux's published books as of 2023 with the exception of JesusDevil are represented, most significantly Warrior Poet, which includes a large amount of research material on Audre Lorde. There are also notes and proposals for several unpublished projects, most notably "No Woman, No Cry," a biography of Bob Marley's mother, Cedella Booker.

Plays include script drafts as well as production files, programs, and reviews for produced works. There are also several screenplays, including the adaptation of The Tapestry and Circles for television.

There are notes and drafts of articles and essays written by De Veaux for various publications, predominantly Essence. The Essence materials encompass nineteen articles De Veaux wrote for the magazine between 1987 and 2000, as well as contracts and correspondence between De Veaux and editors Susan Taylor and Cheryll Greene.

In addition to De Veaux's work, there are writings by others, including Jewelle Gomez, Gale Jackson, and Michelle Parkerson. There are also multiple manuscripts by June Jordan, who was for a time managed by De Veaux's partner Loyce Stewart.

Finally, the collection's printed material includes periodicals, flyers, programs, playbills, and other ephemera collected by De Veaux. The flyers, programs, and playbills document poetry readings, theatrical performances, and other events featuring De Veaux or her friends and associates, mostly centered around New York City during the 1970s and 1980s.

The Alexis De Veaux papers are arranged in four series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Alexis De Veaux in 2008, 2012, and 2021.

Revision History

Electronic records processed by Allison Hughes. (2023-11-08)

Processing information

Processed by Steven Fullwood and Nora Soto during 2008-2016 and Allison Hughes in 2023.

Separated material

Audio and moving image materials transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, Schomburg Center.

Photographs transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center.

Some periodicals transferred to the Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center.

Artwork, posters, and cloth banner transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor

Access restrictions

Electronic records are currently unavailable.