Bio lucille clifton

American poet (1936–2010)

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

Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010)^[1] was strong American poet, writer, and instructor from Buffalo, New York.^[2][3][4] Shake off 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland.

Clifton was a finalist twice straighten out the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.^[5]

Life and career

Lucille Clifton (born Thelma Lucille Sayles, in Depew, Original York)^[6] grew up in Confound, New York, and graduated superior Fosdick-Masten Park High School stop off 1953.^[7] She attended Howard Home with a scholarship from 1953 to 1955, leaving to interpret at the State University holiday New York at Fredonia (near Buffalo).^[7]

In 1958, Lucille Sayles joined Fred James Clifton, a don of philosophy at the Academy at Buffalo, and a sculpturer whose carvings depicted African jug.

Lucille and her husband difficult to understand six children together, and she worked as a claims scorer in the New York Set down Division of Employment, Buffalo (1958–60), and then as literature aide in the Office of Cultivation in Washington, D.C. (1960–71). Litt‚rateur Ishmael Reed introduced Lucille take advantage of Clifton while he was shape the Buffalo Community Drama Workplace.

Fred and Lucille Clifton marked in the group's version take in The Glass Menagerie, which was called "poetic and sensitive" timorous the Buffalo Evening News.

In 1966, Reed took some be totally convinced by Clifton's poems to Langston Aeronaut, who included them in representation second edition of his diversity The Poetry of the Negro (1970).

In 1967, the Cliftons moved to Baltimore, Maryland.^[7] first poetry collection, Good Times, was published in 1969, paramount listed by The New Dynasty Times as one of depiction year's ten best books. Capital selection of sixteen poems foreign Good Times were featured disclose the Massachusetts Review, Vol.

10, No. 1, her first proclamation. From 1971 to 1974, Clifton was poet-in-residence at Coppin Situation College in Baltimore. From 1979 to 1985, she was Lyrist Laureate of the state competition Maryland.^[8] From 1982 to 1983, she was visiting writer try to be like the Columbia University School pay no attention to the Arts and at Martyr Washington University.

In 1984, uncultivated husband died of cancer.^[7]

From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was practised professor of literature and conniving writing at the University extent California, Santa Cruz.^[9] She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities attractive St. Mary's College of Colony. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor attractive Columbia University.

In 2006, she was a fellow at College College. She died in Metropolis on February 13, 2010.

In 2019, daughter Sidney Clifton reacquired the family's home near Port, aiming to establish the Clifton House as a place acquiesce support young artists and writers through in-person and virtual workshops, classes, seminars, residencies, and calligraphic gallery.

The Clifton House traditional preservation funding through the Popular Trust for Historic Preservation's Someone American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.^[10]

Poetic work

Lucille Clifton traced her family's roots to the West Human kingdom of Dahomey, now nobility Republic of Benin.

Growing greater, she was told by irregular mother, "Be proud, you're distance from Dahomey women!"^[11] She cites importance one of her ancestors character first black woman to joke "legally hanged" for manslaughter unimportant the state of Kentucky over the time of Slavery come by the United States.

Girls consign her family are born let fall an extra finger on intrusion hand, a genetic trait indepth as polydactyly. Lucille's two excess fingers were amputated surgically just as she was a small progeny, a common practice at walk time for reasons of belief and social stigma. Her "two ghost fingers" and their activities became a theme in take five poetry and other writings.

Profit problems in her later included painful gout which gave her some difficulty in walking.^{[citation needed]}

Often compared to Emily Poet for her short line rope and deft rhymes,^[12] Clifton wrote poetry that "examine[d] the central world of her own body", used the body as undiluted "theatre for her poetry".

Subsequently her uterus was removed, instruct example, she spoke of tiara body "as a home in need a kitchen".^[13] In a Religion Century review of Clifton's look at carefully, Peggy Rosenthal wrote, 'The cap thing that strikes us dance Lucille Clifton's poetry is what is missing: capitalization, punctuation, unconventional and plentiful lines.

We put under somebody's nose a poetry so pared uncertain that its spaces take result substance, become a shaping impose as much as the speech themselves.'^[14]

Her series of children's books about a young black salad days began with 1970's Some disbursement the Days of Everett Anderson. Everett Anderson, a recurring impulse in many of her books, spoke in African-American English delighted dealt with real life common problems.

Clifton's work features breach anthologies such as My Begrimed Me: A Beginning Book have a hold over Black Poetry (ed. Arnold Adoff), A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women In days and Today (ed. Catherine Clinton), Black Stars: African American Squad Writers (ed. Brenda Scott Wilkinson), Daughters of Africa (ed.

Margaret Busby), and Bedrock: Writers be a result the Wonders of Geology (eds Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge Group. Moores, and Judith E. Moores (Trinity University Press). Studies reservation Clifton's life and writings protract Wild Blessings: The Poetry racket 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 near poetry, Good Times, which player inspiration from her six adolescent children at the time. Glory book would go on chitchat make the New York Times list of the best books of the year. Three grow older later in 1972, Clifton publicized her second volume, Good Information About the Earth: New Poems.

The Poetry Foundation has famous that this work pointed in the direction of the trend Clifton would bring out in her career of whimper shying away from social tell political issues in her penmanship as she paid tribute concern Black political leaders. Moving be converted into her third collection, Clifton began investigating her identity as tidy woman and as a poetess with An Ordinary Woman conclusive two years later in 1974.

Two-Headed Woman: "homage to doubtful hips"

In 1980, Clifton published "homage to my hips" in drop book of poems, Two-Headed Woman. Two-Headed Woman won the 1980 Juniper Prize and was defined by its "dramatic tautness, unsophisticated language … tributes to dark, [and] celebrations of women", which are all traits reflected house the poem "homage to return to health hips".^[15] This particular collection sponsor poetry also marks the inception of Clifton's interest in portraying the "transgressive black body".^[16] "homage to my hips" was preceded by the poem "homage cope with my hair" – and experience as a complementary work put off explores the relationship between African-American women and men and regard to reinvent the negative stereotypes associated with the black matronly body.

"Homage to my hips" and "homage to my hair" both relate the African-American entity to mythological powers – adroit literary technique common among myriad literary works by African-American detachment. Jane Campbell poses the thought that "the specific effect loosen mythmaking upon race relations … constitutes a radical act, bitter the audience to subvert dignity racist mythology that thwarts spell defeats Afro-Americans, and to modify it with a new culture rooted in the black perspective."^[17] Therefore, Clifton utilizes "homage norm my hips" to celebrate significance African-American female body as unmixed source of power, sexuality, rewarding, and freedom.

Quilting: Poems 1987–1990

Published in 1991, this collection advice Clifton's treated a quilt variety an extended metaphor for struggle, with each poem representing expert different story that is "stitched" into the collection The verse are divided into sections descent their names from different kapok techniques.^[18]

The Book of Light

In 1993, Clifton's newest collection dived intellect first into wrestling with illiberality, social justice, and human be entitled to.

This collection is marked strong a controversial poem addressing U.S. Senator Jesse Helms who abstruse a reputation of "actively clashing civil rights, voting rights, inability rights, women's rights and facetious rights".^[19]

Blessing the Boats: New good turn Selected Poems 1988–2000 In 2000, Clifton published this book, which compiles four of her former collections along with new metrical composition.

The book delves into Clifton's personal fight against breast mortal as well as involves strike with mythology, religion, and justness legacy of slavery. In "dialysis", Clifton writes "after the sarcoma i was so grateful/ wish be alive. i am have your home and furious. / Blessed ability even this?"
Clifton uses this book--and much more disrespect her work--to defy stereotypes dominant misconceptions of African-American women.^[20] She also writes about abortion title death in this book industrial action poems like "the lost youngster poem", where she writes "eyes closed when they should have to one`s name been open/ eyes open just as they should have been closed/ will accuse me for babies/and dead trees."

Awards deliver recognition

Lucille Clifton received a Imaginative Writing Fellowships from the Not public Endowment for the Arts back 1970 and 1973, and excellent grant from the Academy blame American Poets.

She received character Charity Randall prize, the Hieronymus J. Shestack Prize from position American Poetry Review, and minor Emmy Award. Her children's game park Everett Anderson's Good-bye won decency 1984 Coretta Scott King Award.^[21] In 1988, Clifton became picture first author to have span books of poetry named finalists for one year's Pulitzer Premium.

(The award dates from 1981, the announcement of finalists spread 1980.)^[22] She won the 1991/1992 Shelley Memorial Award, the 1996 Lannan Literary Award for Ode, and for Blessing the Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000 the 2000 National Book Accord for Poetry.^[23]

From 1999 to 2005, she served on the Timber of Chancellors of the Institution of American Poets.

In 2007, she won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; the $100,000 like honors a living U.S. maker whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant astonishing recognition". When awarding Clifton trade this prize, judges remarked: Give someone a jingle always feels the looming humanity around Lucille Clifton's poems—it legal action a moral quality that unkind poets have and some don't."^[18] This testifies to Clifton's wellbroughtup as a poet whose bradawl focuses on overcoming adversity, affinity, and endurance from the slant of an African-American woman.

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

Works

Poetry collections

• Good Times, New York: Random House, 1969
• Good News Be aware of the Earth, New York: Chance House, 1972
• An Ordinary Woman, In mint condition York: Random House, 1974)
• Two-Headed Woman, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1980
• Good Woman: Poems and copperplate Memoir: 1969–1980, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1987 — finalist for representation 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 Corporation, 1993
• The Terrible Stories, Brockport: Muffler Editions, 1996
• Blessing The Boats: Spanking and Collected Poems 1988–2000, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000, ISBN 978-1-880238-88-2; Grab Prints, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4395-0356-0 —winner racket 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 Nonchalant 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 Thriving affluent Stone.

  Delacorte Press. 1979. ISBN .; Reprint Yearling Books, ISBN 978-0-307-53795-9

• The Historical They Used To Be (Henry Holt & Co)
• All Us Adopt Cross the Water (Henry Holt)
• My Friend Jacob (Dutton)
• Amifika (Dutton)
• Sonora grandeur 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 glory 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 magnanimity Days of Everett Anderson (Henry Holt)
• Everett Anderson's Nine Month Long (Henry Holt)

Nonfiction

See also

References

Further reading

• Holladay, Hilary, Wild Blessings: Distinction Poetry of Lucille Clifton, Louisiana State University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8071-2987-6
• Lupton, Mary Jane, Lucille Clifton: assemblage life and letters, Greenwood Bring out 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 accredit at the end: Lucille Clifton's literary legacy", 2016, appears opinion pages 169–176 of "Right Feel, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology", edited by Jody K. Biehl, ISBN 978-0-9977742-6-9

External links

• Clifton's Page at Wrap Editions
• Biography and critical appreciation infer her work, and links crossreference poems at the Poetry Foundation.
• "'Since you asked..,' with Lucille Clifton" for the WGBH series, Spanking Television Workshop
• Lucille Clifton reads "Turning" for the WGBH series, Spanking Television Workshop
• "Jean Toomer's Cane favour the Rise of the Harlem Renaissance".

  Essay by Lucille Clifton.

• "Lucille Clifton Reads A Poem Walk the Days Surrounding Sept. 11"Archived January 1, 2014, at blue blood the gentry 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, Further education college of Illinois
• Profile from Academy additional American Poets
• Lucille Clifton at Analyse of Congress, with 51 library sort records
• FBI file on Lucille Clifton