Donna Allegra papers

1981-2002

Donna Allegra was an African-American lesbian writer, poet, essayist and dancer. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Allegra studied theater at Bennington College and Hunter College, graduating from New York University, in 1977, with a Bachelor's degree in dramatic literature, theater history, and cinema. She worked as a construction electrician to support her writing and dancing; reviewed dance, theatre and film productions as a freelance cultural journalist; and produced lesbian and feminist-oriented radio programming for WBAI from 1975-1981.

Allegra was an early member of the Jemima Writers Collective, the first Black lesbian writing group in New York City. The collective grew out of the Salsa Soul Sisters, the oldest Black lesbian organization in the United States, and was founded to encourage Black women writers to share their creative work with each other in a supportive environment. Fellow members of Jemima included Candace Boyce, Georgia Brooks, Linda Brown, Robin Christian, Yvonne Flowers (Maua), Chirlane McCray, Irare Sabasu, and Sapphire. Allegra later joined the Gap-Toothed Girlfriends Writers Workshop.

A prolific writer of poetry, short stories, and biographical essays, Allegra has been published in over thirty lesbian and feminist anthologies and numerous Black and lesbian journals and magazines. In 2001, she published her first book, Witness to the League of Blonde Hip Hop Dancers, a collection of twelve short stories and a novella about Black lesbian dancers. In addition to her writing career, Allegra was an accomplished African folklore and jazz dancer. Allegra passed away January 13, 2020.