Please do not mention Cats. She is best known for her Obie Award-winning play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. There was a lot of racial tension and discrimination to contend with and many found it extremely hard to cope with it. It seems that poems would often percolate while Shange was dancing—in one humorous scene, she recalls being chided by Eleo Pomare for letting her mind wander to poetry while lying on the floor doing core exercises. People of Watts. When African American writer Ntozake Shange's (born 1948) for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem appeared on the theater scene in New York City in 1975, it achieved immense popularity. Ntozake Shange, a spoken-word artist who morphed into a playwright with her canonical play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf,” died on Saturday in Bowie, Md. back to. See more ideas about Ntozake shange, Coloured girls, Spoken word poetry. In 1975, Ntozake Shange moved to New York City, where she wrote and staged her most famous work, a choreopoem (a combination of poetry, dance, music, and drama) called for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. Playwright and author Ntozake Shange was born Paulette L. Williams on October 18, 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey to Paul T. Williams, an air force surgeon, and Eloise Williams, an educator and psychiatric social worker. This week’s poetry includes a beautiful and touching poem written by the famous playwright, Ntozake Shange. It consists of a series of poetic monologues to be accompanied by dance movements and music, a form Shange coined as the choreopoem. for colored girls... tells the stories of seven women who have suffered oppression in a … Poetry Better Woman. ― Ntozake Shange, From Okra to Greens: Poems. As she says, "A poem shd fill you up with something/ make you swoon, change yr mind or make it up/a poem shd happen to you like cold water or a kiss." Shange was raised mainly in Trenton, NJ and St. Louis, MO. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is a choreopoem by Ntozake Shange. Ntozake Shange has 56 books on Goodreads with 142750 ratings. MW #356: "i live in music" (poem by Ntozake Shange + artwork by Romare Bearden, WITH SOUNDTRACK! This book revolutionized the way I viewed poetry. Ntozake Shange is a Top 100 AALBC.com Bestselling Author Making Our List 12 Times. In 1977, Shange was awarded the Off-Broadway Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Audience Development Committee Award, Village Voice, Mademoiselle Award, and Antoinette Perry, Grammy, and Academy award nominations all for For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf. Ntozake Shange. As a Black feminist, she addressed issues relating to race and Black power in much of her work. In a hugely prolific career, Shange has written 15 plays, 19 poetry collections, 6 novels, 5 children’s books, 3 collections of essays, and a memoir called Lost in Language & Sound. It quickly moved from Off-Broadway to Broadway, where it won several major awards. Ntozake Shange, published in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, 1974 ‘& i am more/ than i am not’ In celebration of Black History Month and National Poetry Day, our Poem of the Month is by the late Ntozake Shange. Ntozake Shange is one of America’s greatest writers—an acknowledged master in the genres of drama, fiction, memoir, and poetry. From the poet, novelist, and cultural icon behind the award-winning and celebrated Broadway play, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, comes an evocative and moving bilingual collection of new and beloved poems. I had - there were three strokes, and I lost my ability to read and write and speak, and it really put me by the wayside for a number of years. Ntozake Shange page on Amazon*. Ntozake Shange: you are sucha fool. Feminist poet and Obie Award-winning playwright Ntozake Shange’s seminal "choreopoem" — "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf" — has provided space for dialogues about the lived experiences of black women for over four decades.Her full canon of poetry, prose, and stage work have helped pave the way for black women to take risks in the art of storytelling. Ntozake Shange (/ ˈ ɛ n t oʊ z ɑː k i ˈ ʃ ɑː ŋ ɡ eɪ / EN-toh-zah-kee SHAHNG-gay; October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) was an American playwright and poet. As I got better and started to write, I said, 'Wow, even as an old woman, I could have a selected book of poems.' Like “The poems introduce the girls to other kinds of people of color, other worlds. Email me your favorite works of the masters (no amateurs please). Ntozake Shange is the only poet to have her poetry ("For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf: A Choreopoem") translated successfully to Broadway. Shange’s 1979 play Spell #7, like her first play, is structured like a highly electric poetry reading, but this time the cast is mixed male and female. Ntozake Shange (born October 18, 1948) is an African-American poet and playwright.1 As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism. I froze, hoping at first that this was one of the Internet’s many timewarp fictions, a mean but ineffectual trick of some faceless troll disconnected from Black feminist communities, marshaling our love for Black artists as … She is also a dancer, actor, director, author, lecturer, and black feminist. Ntozake Shange, born Paulette Williams on October 18, 1948 in Trenton, NJ.She attended Barnard College (B.A., 1970) and the University of Southern California (M.A., 1973). Like “You can't fuck somebody into loving you.” ― Ntozake Shange, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf is Ntozake Shange's first work and most acclaimed theater piece, which premiered in 1976. If most of you think you’ve never heard of her, think about all the powerful poetry you heard in the movie, For Colored Girls.This inspiring movie will filled with poetry written by Shange. Not enough poems here? See more ideas about ntozake shange, spoken words, coloured girls. Includes two new poems and a reading group guide Beginning, middles, and new beginnings-- a mandala for colored girls : musings and meditations on the occasion of the second publication / by Ntozake Shange -- [The poems] -- [Photographs of stage and screen performances] -- Reading group guide For Shange, writing and dance were inextricably entwined, with words and gestures constantly informing one another. This is evidence by the descriptions, “We can even have them over for dinner, and get raped in our own houses for invitation.“ and “I know you want it, can’t let it get past me.” (Shange). Awards and Honors; the legacy of Ntozake Shange . May 26, 2014 - Explore Brandy Craig's board "Ntozake Shange Poems/Spoken Words" on Pinterest. Blood Rhythms - Blood Currents . In 1971, she adopted the name “Ntozake Shange,” pronounced En-toe-zok-ee Shan-gay, from Xhosa, a Zulu dialect, which signifies “she who 3 likes. A huge blackface mask forms the backdrop for actors and actresses of an imitation old-time minstrel show, where actors did skits, recited, and joked, all under the direction of a Mr. Interlocutor. AALBC Mourns the Passing of Ntozake Shange (10/18/48 – 10/27/18). find poems find poets poem-a-day library (texts, books & more) materials for teachers poetry near you My Father Is a Retired Magician Ntozake Shange - 1948-2018 CONTACT Snally Gaster's African American Phat Library Experience. Beloved poet and playwright Ntozake Shange died this weekend at age 70. 2 likes. Feb 18, 2015 - Explore ELIZABETH PIERSON's board "Ntozake Shange", followed by 417 people on Pinterest. Ntozake Shange (Author / Poet / Playwright / Essayist / Educator) Ntozake Shange has been recognized as one of America’s greatest writers,an acknowledged master in the genres of drama, fiction, memoir, and poetry and achieved iconic status as a primary voice of women and persons of color. The poem Latent Rapist, by Ntozake Shange and the song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke both give equal weight to the definition of sexual violence. Ntozake Shange is a genius, a goddess, but above all else, a poet. A friend posted “RIP Ntozake Shange” on her Facebook timeline with a single yellow tear. and narration) This stunning children's book features POC positive paintings and poetry, with a rich soundtrack and narration by Musicworks director Jesse Neuman (grades preK--4) MusicworksNYC.org instagram/musicworksarts musicworksNYC@gmail.com Ten years later, it was still being produced in various theaters throughout the United States. Biography. Read her autobiography in her own words: I am Ntozake Shange. Welcome to AfroPoets.Net - Famous Black Writers… Relax and enjoy reading over these Poems… Famous African American Writer Ntozake Shange… Ntozake Shange Bio It has never been an easy ride for African-American people and for those growing up in the 1950s it was particularly hard. 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