Los Angeles, CA
I was born in Florence, Alabama, birthplace of W.C. Handy, self-proclaimed father of the blues. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, home of jazz innovator Ornette Coleman. At present, I live in Los Angeles, California, where we can't see the stars in the sky-only the stars on the sidewalks of Hollywood.
In my practice as a poet I try to combine critical thinking with the pleasures of rhythm and wordplay. We poets are finding new readers and I feel especially fortunate that my work is available to this expanding audience. In 2002 my book, Sleeping with the Dictionary was nominated for a National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. My current work-in-progress is a creative family history based on memory, oral storytelling, research, and documentation.
Poet, Teacher
1990 Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
1987 M.A., University of California, Santa Cruz
1975 B.A., University of Texas, Austin
2002 Sleeping with the Dictionary, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
2002 Blues Baby, Early Poems, Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press.
1995 Muse & Drudge, San Diego, CA: Singing Horse Press.
1992 S*PeRM*KT, San Diego, CA:Singing Horse Press.
1991 Trimmings, New York, NY: Tender Buttons Press.
1981 Tree Tall Woman, Energy Earth Press.
2007 Elizabeth Agee Prize for Outstanding Scholarship in American Literary Studies
2007 Invited Poet, Soul Mountain Retreat, East Haddam Connecticut
2005 Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
2002 Sleeping with the Dictionary, Finalist, National Book Award
2001 Music for Homemade Instruments, The Best American Poetry
2001 Scarecrow, Unspoken, 25th Anniversary issue of Callaloo; Best of Callaloo Poetry
1994 Gertrude Stein Award, Innovative American Poetry
1994 Rockefeller Fellowship, Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Studies, University of Rochester
