Essex Hemphill (1957–1995)
Author of Brother To Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men
About the Author
One of the most important new voices on the gay literary scene, Hemphill has published poetry in several anthologies and essays in the gay press, most of which have been collected in his three books. The merits of his work have been rewarded with several fellowships, including one from the National show more Endowment for the Arts. Hemphill has also been involved in the production of three gay African American films: Looking for Langston, which is about Langston Hughes; Tongues Untied, a celebration of African American gay identity; and Out of the Shadows, an AIDS documentary. Hemphill says that his work has been informed by his efforts to "integrate all of my identities into a functioning self" and to "articulate and politicize my sexuality" (Ceremonies 53). As he makes clear, it is not easy to accomplish this in a racist and homophobic society. He deplores the racism that he finds in the gay community, in particular the sexual objectification of black men by white men, which he argues characterizes the art of the celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. He is equally critical of the sexism and homophobia of the African American community, which he believes informs the rhetoric of the key movement, Black Nationalism. But Hemphill also celebrates his sexual and racial identities, affirming his participation in both the gay and black communities even as he critiques them and American society at large, whose prejudices they sometimes share. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Essex Hemphill
Ceremonies 4 copies
Associated Works
Boys Like Us: Gay Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories (1996) — Contributor — 426 copies, 2 reviews
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature {2nd edition} (2003) — Contributor, some editions — 283 copies, 2 reviews
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (2020) — Contributor — 237 copies, 4 reviews
Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time (Stonewall Inn Editions) (1988) — Contributor — 190 copies, 1 review
Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color (2018) — Contributor — 125 copies, 2 reviews
Freedom in This Village: Twenty-Five Years of Black Gay Men's Writing (2005) — Contributor — 91 copies, 2 reviews
The Columbia Reader on Lesbians & Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics (1999) — Contributor — 86 copies
The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales (2003) — Contributor — 70 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Hemphill, Essex
- Legal name
- Hemphill, Essex Charles
- Birthdate
- 1957-04-16
- Date of death
- 1995-11-04
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Maryland
- Occupations
- poet
gay rights activist
AIDS activist
performance artist - Awards and honors
- Lambda Literary Award
- Cause of death
- AIDS
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Washington, D.C., USA - Place of death
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Burial location
- cremated
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Since I'm reading this as part of my New Year's Resolution to by-God read more books that are explicitly about race, I am specially noticing the parts I don't understand here. This is opaque to me; Hemphill's experience is so foreign that I am struggling to understand the emotional landscape here. Which is my flaw and not Hemphill's.
That said, I can judge the introduction: it's not very good. It's rambling, unorganized, and too long; it didn't add anything to my experience of reading the show more actual text, I think.
The combination of prose and poetry in the same volume was a struggle for me, although Hemphill can certainly write both. I liked the essays better than the poetry, by and large, but that is probably because I couldn't enter into the poems with the confidence I could the essays. "Voices" is a fabulous piece, the essay criticizing Mapplethorpe rocks, and "Ceremonies" is chilling in its description of the sexual culture in which Hemphill came to adulthood. show less
That said, I can judge the introduction: it's not very good. It's rambling, unorganized, and too long; it didn't add anything to my experience of reading the show more actual text, I think.
The combination of prose and poetry in the same volume was a struggle for me, although Hemphill can certainly write both. I liked the essays better than the poetry, by and large, but that is probably because I couldn't enter into the poems with the confidence I could the essays. "Voices" is a fabulous piece, the essay criticizing Mapplethorpe rocks, and "Ceremonies" is chilling in its description of the sexual culture in which Hemphill came to adulthood. show less
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 23
- Members
- 405
- Popularity
- #60,013
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 8
- Favorited
- 1