Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange | |
---|---|
Born | Paulette Linda Williams October 18, 1948 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | October 27, 2018 Bowie, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 70)
Education | Columbia University (BA) University of Southern California (MA) |
Occupations |
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Known for | for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (1975) |
Relatives | Ifa Bayeza (sister) Bisa Williams (sister) |
Website | officialntozakeshange |
Ntozake Shange (
Among Shange's honors and awards were fellowships from the
Early life
Shange was born Paulette Linda Williams in
Shange's family had a strong interest in the arts and encouraged her artistic education. Among the guests at their home were Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Paul Robeson, and W. E. B. Du Bois.[6][7] From an early age, Shange took an interest in poetry.[8] While growing up with her family in Trenton, Shange attended poetry readings with her younger sister Wanda (now known as the playwright Ifa Bayeza).[9] These poetry readings fostered an early interest for Shange in the South in particular, and the loss it represented to young Black children who migrated to the North with their parents.[8] In 1956, Shange's family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Shange was sent several miles away from home to a non-segregated school that allowed her to receive "gifted" education. While attending this non-segregated school, Shange faced overt racism and harassment. These experiences would later go on to heavily influence her work.[7]
When Shange was 13, she returned to
In 1970 in San Francisco, having come to terms with her depression and alienation, Shange rejected "Williams" as a slave name and "Paulette" (after her father Paul) as patriarchal, and asked South African musicians Ndikho and Nomusa Xaba[14] to bestow an African name.[15] In 1971, Ndikho duly chose Ntozake and Shange,[15] which Shange respectively glossed as Xhosa "She who comes with her own things" and Zulu "She who walks like a lion".[15][16]
Career
In 1975, Shange moved back to New York City, after earning her master's degree in American Studies in 1973
Shange subsequently wrote other successful plays, including Spell No. 7, a 1979 choreopoem that explores the Black experience,[20] and an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children (1980), which won an Obie Award.[21]
In 1978, Shange became an associate of the
She edited The Beacon Best of 1999: creative writing by women and men of all colors (Beacon Press,
In 2003, Shange wrote and oversaw the production of Lavender Lizards and Lilac Landmines: Layla's Dream while serving as a visiting artist at the
Shange's individual poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including
Relationship to the Black Arts Movement
The
Although Shange is described as a "post-Black artist", her work was decidedly feminist, whereas BAM has been criticized as misogynistic and "sexism had been widely and hotly debated within movement publications and organizations."[25] Corresponding with the idea that art from BAM was a "radical reordering of the western cultural aesthetic," Shange herself described her atypical writing style. In regards to her plays, she stated: "A play has a form that has to be finished. A performance piece has an organic form, but it can even flow. And there doesn't have to be some ultimate climax in it. And there does not have to be a denouement."[27]
Though Shange's work did have a "radical reordering of western cultural aesthetics" with its spelling, structure, and style, Baraka—one of the leading male figures of the movement—denied her as a post-Black artist.[25] With regard to Shange as a part of the black aesthetic and as a post-Black artist, he claimed "that several women writers, among them Michelle Wallace [sic] and Ntozake Shange, like [Ishmael] Reed, had their own 'Hollywood' aesthetic, one of 'capitulation' and 'garbage.'"[25]
In terms of a black aesthetic, Shange described different styles of writing for different parts of the country, stating: "There's not a California style, but there are certain feelings and a certain freeness that set those writers off from those in the Chicago-St. Louis-Detroit tripod group...so that the chauvinism that you might find that's exclusionary, in that triangle, you don't find too much in California."[8] Shange set her writing apart from the Black aesthetic of the Black arts movement by creating a "special aesthetic" for black women "to an extent." She claimed, "the same rhetoric that is used to establish the Black Aesthetic, we must use to establish a women's aesthetic, which is to say that those parts of reality that are ours, those things about our bodies, the cycles of our lives that have been ignored for centuries in all castes and classes of our people, are to be dealt with now."[8]
Death
Shange died in her sleep on October 27, 2018, aged 70, in an assisted-living facility in Bowie, Maryland.[5] She had been ill, having suffered a series of strokes in 2004,[28] but she "had been on the mend lately, creating new work, giving readings and being feted for her work."[29] Her sister Ifa Bayeza (with whom she co-wrote the 2010 novel Some Sing, Some Cry)[30] said: "It's a huge loss for the world. I don't think there's a day on the planet when there's not a young woman who discovers herself through the words of my sister."[29]
Awards
- NDEAfellow, 1974
- Obie Award
- Outer Critics Circle Award
- Audience Development Committee (Audelco) Award
- Mademoiselle Award
- Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop Award, 1978
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry, 1981 (for Three Pieces)
- Guggenheim fellowship, 1981[31]
- Medal of Excellence, Columbia University, 1981[32]
- Obie Award, 1981, for Mother Courage and Her Children
- Nori Eboraci Award
- Barnard College, 1988
- Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund annual writer's award, 1992[33]
- Paul Robeson Achievement Award, 1992
- Arts and Cultural Achievement Award
- National Coalition of 100 Black Women (Pennsylvania chapter), 1992
- Taos World Poetry Heavyweight Champion, 1992, 1993, 1994
- Living Legend Award, National Black Theatre Festival, 1993
- Claim Your Life Award
- WDAS-AM/FM, 1993
- Monarch Merit Award
- National Council for Culture and Arts
- Supersisters trading card set (one of the cards featured Shange's name and picture), 1979[34]
- Pushcart Prize
- St. Louis Walk of Fame inductee[35]
- Proclamation of "Ntozake Shange Day" (Borough of Manhattan, New York) by Congressman Charles Rangel on June 14, 2014.[36]
- Shelley Memorial Award[37]
Nominations
- Emmy Award, 1977, nominee, Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special, An Evening with Diana Ross The Big Event
- Tony Award, 1977, nominee, Tony Award for Best Play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
- Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Works
Plays
- Emmy Award; first published 1976; updated 2010 with a new section, "Positive" (Scribner).
- A Photograph: Lovers-in-Motion (1977). Produced Off-Broadway at the Public Theater.
- Where the Mississippi Meets the Amazon (1977).
- A Photograph: A Study of Cruelty (1977).
- Boogie Woogie Landscapes (1979). First produced at Frank Silvera's Writers' Workshop in New York, then on Broadway at the Symphony Space Theatre.
- Spell #7 (written spell #7) or spell #7: Geechee jibaro Quik magic trance manual for technologically stressed third world people (1979). Produced Off-Broadway at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.
- Black and White Two Dimensional Planes (1979).
- Mother Courage and Her Children (1980). Produced off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Winner of a 1981 Obie Award.
- Three for a Full Moon (1982).
- Bocas (1982). First produced at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
- From Okra to Greens/A Different Kinda Love Story (1983).
- Three views of Mt. Fuji (1987). First produced in The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre; first New York production at the New Dramatists.
- Daddy Says (1989).
- Whitewash (1994).
Poetry
- Melissa & Smith (1976).
- Natural Disasters and Other Festive Occasions (1977)
- Nappy Edges (1978)
- A Daughter's Geography (1983)
- From Okra to Greens (1984)
- Ridin' the Moon in Texas: Word Paintings (St. Martin's Press, 1987)
- The Love Space Demands (a continuing saga) (St. Martin's Press, 1987)
- A Photograph: Lovers in Motion: A Drama (S. French, 1977)
- Some Men (1981)
- Three Pieces (St. Martin's Press, 1992)
- I Live in Music (1994)
- Atria Books, 2004). Photography by Kamoinge Inc.
- "Enuf"
- "With No Immediate Cause"
- "you are sucha fool"
- "People of Watts" (first published November 1993 in VIBE Magazine)
- "Blood Rhythms"
- "Poet Hero"
- Wild Beauty (Atria Books, 2017)
- Freedom's a-Callin Me (Harper Collins, 2012 ISBN 9780061337437)
Novels
- Sassafrass (Shmeless Hussy Press, 1976)
- For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf (Shameless Hussy Press, 1976)
- Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo (1982)
- Betsey Brown (St. Martin's Press, 1985)
- Liliane (1994)
- Some Sing, Some Cry (2010) (with Ifa Bayeza)[38]
Children's books
- Coretta Scott (2009)
- Ellington Was Not a Street (2003)
- Float Like a Butterfly: Muhammad Ali, the Man Who Could Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee (2002)
- Daddy Says (2003)
- Whitewash (1997)
Essays and non-fiction
- See No Evil: Prefaces, Essays & Accounts, 1976–1983 (1984)
- Foreword in The Black Book by Robert Mapplethorpe (1986)
- if i can cook / you know god can (1998)
- Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance (2020)
References
- ^ Ntozake Shange Biography, FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- Black American Literature Forum, Women Writers Issue (Winter 1990), 24(4): 717–730.
- ^ Gans, Andrew (April 18, 2016). "Barnard College Acquires Archives of Ntozake Shange". Playbill. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ Lee, Felicia R. (September 17, 2010), "A Writer's Struggles, on and Off the Page", The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c Collins-Hughes, Laura (October 28, 2018). "Ntozake Shange, Who Wrote 'For Colored Girls,' Is Dead at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- The History Makers. 2016–2017. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Kosseh-Kamada, Mafo. "Ntozake Shange Biography". University of Minnesota. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ JSTOR 3041478.
- ^ "Author Ifa Bayeza Comes 'Home' at Library Reading and Book Signing", Town Topics, March 27, 2013.
- ^ Lee, Felicia R. "A Writer's Struggles, On and Off the Page", The New York Times, September 17, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2017. "The sisters were raised in St. Louis and in Lawrence Township, N.J., the oldest of four children of a surgeon, Paul T. Williams, and Eloise O. Williams, a social worker, and educator who also had a fondness for the arts."
- ^ Aubrey, Dan. "In Memoriam: Ntozake Shange", Princeton Info, October 31, 2018. Accessed May 7, 2020. "She graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1966 and received degrees from Barnard College and the University of Southern California."
- ^ Bomb. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Holloway, Lynette, "Interview With An Author: Ntozake Shange Returns to the Spotlight With Epic Novel and Film Adaptation of Groundbreaking 'For Colored Girls'", BV on Books, October 15, 2010.
- ^ Ansell, Gwen (June 20, 2019). "Farewell to Ndikho Xaba — a little known genius of South African music". The Conversation. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ a b c Shange, Ntozake (November 23, 2020). "Ntozake Shange on Sun Ra and How She Came to Have Her Name". Literary Hub. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ "About Ntozake Shange". Official Ntozake Shange Website. Global Artists Management. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ Kosseh-Kamanda, Mafo. "Ntozake Shange: Biography/Criticism". University of Minnesota. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
- ^ "History & Awards". Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- ^ Carr, Jane (October 28, 2018), "What 'For Colored Girls' meant to us", CNN.
- The Times-Picayune. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 28, 2018). "Ntozake Shange Dies: The 'For Colored Girls' Playwright Was 70". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ "Associates | The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press". www.wifp.org. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ "The Beacon Best of 1999". Penguin Random House.
- ^ "Choreopoem returns home from Atlanta". The Gainesville Sun. June 13, 2003.
- ^ a b c d e Salaam, Kaluma [sic] (1995). "Modern American Poetry | Historical Overviews of The Black Arts Movement". Department of English, University of Illinois. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- doi:10.2307/1144377. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ Anderlini, Serena. "Drama or Performance Art? An Interview with Ntozake Shange", Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (1991): 85–98. University of Kansas.
- ^ Kennedy, Mark (October 27, 2018), "Author Ntozake Shange of 'For Colored Girls' fame has died", ABC News.
- ^ a b Preston, Rohan (October 27, 2018). "Ntozake Shange, pioneering playwright, poet and novelist, dies at 70". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Harrison (October 28, 2018), Shange, black feminist poet and playwright of ‘For Colored Girls,’ dies at 70", The Washington Post.
- ^ "Ntozake Shange", John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
- ^ "Complete List of Recipients (1945-Present)", Office of the Secretary of the University, Columbia University in the City of New York.
- ^ "The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Awards: The art of the possible..." (PDF). Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Awards.
- ^ Wulf, Steve (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster". ESPN. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". St. Louis Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "I found god in myself: A Conversation with Ntozake Shange", Souleo Universe, November 11, 2016.
- ^ "Announcing the winner of the 2018 Shelley Memorial Award, Ntozake Shange". Poetry Society of America. April 18, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ Persico, Joyce J., "Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza — the erstwhile Williams siblings of Trenton — mark careers with new novel, film", NJ.com, October 9, 2010.
Further reading
- "Notzake Shange". Poetry Foundation. March 22, 2023.
External links
- Official website
- Guide to the Ntozake Shange Papers at Barnard College
- Ntozake Shange page, African American Literature Book Club
- Ntozake Shange Bio, Henry Holt Publishers:
- Multimanifestations: Ntozake Shange Page
- Hilton Als, "Color Vision" (profile of Ntozake Shange), The New Yorker, November 8, 2010.
- "Longtime friend remembers fellow poet and playwright Ntozake Shange" – interview with Thulani Davis, CBC, October 30, 2018.