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Wanda Coleman

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Coleman25

Wanda Coleman. Courtesy AfroPoets.

Wanda Coleman (November 13, 1946 - November 22, 2013) was an American poet,[1] called "the L.A. Blueswoman," and "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles."[2]

Life[]

Born Wanda Evans, Coleman grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, the city where she lived all her life. She has worked a medical secretary, magazine editor, journalist, and scriptwriter.[1]

Coleman's greatest notoriety came as a result of an unfavorable review she wrote in the April 14, 2002, edition of The Los Angeles Times Book Review of Maya Angelou's book, A Song Flung Up to Heaven. Coleman found the book to be "small and inauthentic, without ideas, wisdom or vision". There was a huge outpouring, some positive and much negative, which resulted in Coleman's invitation to certain events being cancelled.[3]

She died in Los Angeles on November 22, 2013.[1]

Quotations[]

"Like Wallace Stegner, I am in the 'universal' tradition of writers who concern themselves with The Truth — never mind that it is apt to hurt someone, in some way, most likely me." — From The Riot Inside Me: More Trials & Tremors

Recognition[]

Coleman has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and the California Arts Council (in fiction and in poetry). She was the first C.O.L.A. literary fellow (Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, 2003). Her many honors include an Emmy in Daytime Drama writing, The 1999 Lenore Marshall Prize (for "Bathwater Wine"), and a nomination for the 2001 National Book Awards (for "Mercurochrome"). She was a finalist for California poet laureate in 2005.

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • Art in the Court of the Blue F** (chapbook). Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1977.
  • Mad Dog Black Lady. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1979.
  • Imagoes. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1983; reissued, 1991.
  • Dicksboro Hotel & other travels. Ambrosia Press, 1989.
  • Hand Dance. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1993.
  • American Sonnets. Kenosha, WI: Light and Dust Books with Woodland Pattern Books Center (Kenosha, WI), 1994.
  • Bathwater Wine. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1998.
  • Mercurochrome: New Poems. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 2001.
  • Ostinato Vamps: Poems. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003.
  • Wanda Coleman: Greatest hits, 1966-2003. Columbus, OH: Pudding House Press, 2004.
  • Poems Seismic in Scene (chapbook, with Jean-Jacques Tachdjian). Lille, France: 2006.

Novel[]

  • Mambo Hips and Make Believe: A Novel. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1999.

Short fiction[]

  • A War of Eyes and other stories. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1988.
  • African Sleeping Sickness: Stories and poems. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1990.
  • Heavy Daughter Blues: Poems and stories. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1991.
  • Jazz and Twelve O’Clock Tales. Boston: David R. Godine, 2008.

Non-fiction[]

  • Native in a Strange Land: Trials and tremors. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1996.
  • Love-Ins With Nietzsche: Memoir (chapbook). Fresno, CA: Wake Up Heavy Press, 2000.
  • The Riot inside Me: More trials & tremors. Boston: David R. Godine, 2004.

Edited[]

  • Women for All Seasons: Poetry and Prose about the Transitions in Women's Lives (edited with Joanne Leedom Ackerman). Woman's Building, 1988.
  • Earthbound in Betty Grable’s Shoes: The Selected Poems of Susannah Foster. St. John, KS: Chiron Review Press, 1990.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.[4]

See also[]

A_poem_by_Wanda_Coleman

A poem by Wanda Coleman

Wanda_Coleman_-_Los_Angeles_poet_-1985_-_My_Car

Wanda Coleman - Los Angeles poet -1985 - My Car

Wanda_Coleman_"Where_I_Live"

Wanda Coleman "Where I Live"

References[]

  • "Revising Western Criticism Through Wanda Coleman," essay by Krista Comer; Western American Quarterly Journal of the Western Literature Association, Vol. XXXIII, No. 4., Utah State University, Dept. of English, Logan UT, Winter 1999.
  • "Literature and Race in Ls Angeles," by Julian Murphet, Cambride University Press, 2001.
  • "AMERICAN WRITERS: A Collection of Literary Biographies," Jay Parini, Editor, article by Tony Magistrale (perhaps the only in-depth authority on Coleman, having written and interviewed her in the late 80s), 2002.
  • "City of Poems: The Lyric Voice in Los Angeles Since 1990," by Laurence Goldstein, from THE MISREAD CITY: New Literary Los Angeles, Dana Gioia and Scott Timberg, Editors, Red Hen Press, 2003.
  • "What Saves Us" interview of Coleman by Priscilla Ann Brown, Callaloo Vol. 26, No.3, Dept. of English, Texas A & M University, 2003.
  • "Wanda Coleman" biographical essay, A-Z of African American Writers, Philip Bader, Editor, Facts-on-File, NY, 2004.
  • "Wanda Coleman," cover and interview by Jeff Jansen, Chiron Review, Issue 79, Summer 2005.
  • "Wanda Coleman," featured poet in Quercus Review #6, Sam Pierstorff, Editor, Dept. of English, Modesto Junior College, California, 2006.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wanda Coleman, Academy of American Poets. Poets.org, Web, Apr. 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ "LA’s Unofficial Poet Laureate Dies At 67". CBS Los Angeles. 1946-11-13. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/11/23/las-unofficial-poet-laureate-dies-at-67/. Retrieved 2013-11-25. 
  3. ↑ Her account of this incident appeared as an essay in the August 29, 2002 edition of The Nation.
  4. ↑ Wanda Coleman b. 1946, Poetry Foundation, Web, Aug. 23, 2012.

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