Etheridge Knight
Etheridge Knight (April 19, 1931 – March 10, 1991) was an African-American poet.
Etheridge Knight | |
|---|---|
| Born | Etheridge Knight April 19, 1931 Corinth, Mississippi |
| Died | March 10, 1991 (aged 59) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Resting place | Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Indiana State Prison 1960-1968 |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Black Arts Movement |
| Notable awards | National Endowment for the Arts grant (1972, 1981), Guggenheim Fellowship (1974) |
| Years active | 1965-1991 |
| Spouses |
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Knight left school after 9th grade. He was underage in 1947, but he signed his parents' signatures to join the U. S. Army in 1947.[1] He fought in the Korean War and he was hurt by flying metal. He left the Army in 1951.[1] He became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He broke laws to make money for his addiction. In 1960 he was arrested for robbery. He was put into the Indiana State Prison.[2] Later, he said, “I died in Korea from a shrapnel wound and narcotics resurrected me. I died in 1960 from a prison sentence and poetry brought me back to life.”[3]
He started writing poetry in prison. Sometimes he was visited there by poets Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonia Sanchez, and Dudley Randall.[1] They talked with him about his writing. He was let out of prison in 1969 and married Sanchez. His drug addiction soon led to their divorce.[2][1]
From 1969 to 1972 he was the poet in residence at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Hartford, and Lincoln University.[1]
Knight was given money from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1972 and 1981 and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship in 1974.[4][5] He was given the Shelley Award by the Poetry Society of America in 1985.[6] In 1990 he got a bachelor’s degree in American poetry and criminal justice from Martin Center University in Indianapolis.[7]
Knight died of lung cancer in 1991.[8]
Works
- Poems from Prison (1968)
- Black Voices from Prison edited by Knight (1970)
- Belly Song and Other Poems. (1973)
- Born of a Woman: New and Selected Poems. (1980)
- The Essential Etheridge Knight. (1986)
- The Lost Etheridge. (2022)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Gates and Smitih (2014). The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: Norton. pp. 612–614. ISBN 9780393911558.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Premo, Cassie (2001). Knight, Etheridge. Oxford Reference - The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513883-2. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ↑ Donaghy, Daniel (2009). Knight, Etheridge. Oxford Reference - Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Literature Fellowships". www.arts.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
- ↑ "Etheridge Knight". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
- ↑ "Etheridge Knight". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
- ↑ "Etheridge Knight". Poetry Foundation. 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
- ↑ Fraser, C. Gerald (1991-03-14). "Etheridge Knight Is Dead at 57; Began Writing Poetry in Prison" (in en-US). The New York Times. . https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/14/obituaries/etheridge-knight-is-dead-at-57-began-writing-poetry-in-prison.html. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
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