Lucille Clifton (1936–2010)
Author of Everett Anderson's Goodbye
About the Author
Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York on June 27, 1936. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She attended Howard University, where she majored in drama, for two years before deciding that she would rather write poetry. Her first poetry collection Good Times was show more published in 1969. During her lifetime, she wrote 11 books of poetry and 20 children's books. She won numerous awards including the Coretta Scott King Award for Everett Anderson's Good-bye in 1984, the National Book Award for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000 in 2001, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize award in 2007. She was the Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985. She died after a long battle with cancer and other illnesses on February 13, 2010 at the age of 73. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of Squaw Valley Community of Writers
Series
Works by Lucille Clifton
Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (American Poets Continuum) (2000) 341 copies, 6 reviews
How to Carry Water: Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton (American Poets Continuum Series, 180) (2020) 87 copies, 1 review
Associated Works
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,471 copies, 9 reviews
Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature (1991) — Contributor — 442 copies, 5 reviews
Cries of the Spirit: A Celebration of Women's Spirituality (2000) — Contributor — 404 copies, 2 reviews
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature {2nd edition} (2003) — Contributor, some editions — 282 copies, 2 reviews
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (2020) — Contributor — 235 copies, 4 reviews
Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women (1996) — Contributor — 230 copies, 1 review
No More Masks: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Women Poets (1993) — Contributor, some editions — 226 copies, 3 reviews
Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present (1992) — Contributor — 187 copies
From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas 1900-2002 (2002) — Contributor — 182 copies
Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth-Century American Women Writers (1994) — Contributor — 128 copies, 3 reviews
Answering Back: Living Poets Reply to the Poetry of the Past (2007) — Contributor — 119 copies, 1 review
In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry (1994) — Contributor — 105 copies
Every Shut Eye Ain't Asleep: An Anthology of Poetry by African Americans Since 1945 (1994) — Contributor — 97 copies
Make a Joyful Sound (poems for children by African American Poets) (1991) — Contributor — 96 copies, 1 review
You Don't Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves (2021) — Contributor — 86 copies, 2 reviews
The Poem Is You: 60 Contemporary American Poems and How to Read Them (2016) — Contributor — 78 copies
The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales (2003) — Contributor — 70 copies, 1 review
Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology (2024) — Contributor — 58 copies, 2 reviews
Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry (2013) — Contributor — 48 copies
The Roads from Bethlehem: Christmas Literature from Writers Ancient and Modern (1993) — Contributor — 34 copies, 1 review
Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade (2006) — Contributor — 30 copies, 1 review
Beat the Drum, Independence Day Has Come: Poems for the Fourth of July (1977) — Contributor — 28 copies, 1 review
What God Is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss by and for Native Women and Women of Color (2019) — Contributor — 27 copies, 2 reviews
Eleven More American Women Poets in the 21st Century: Poetics Across North America (2012) — Contributor — 12 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Clifton, Thelma Lucille Sayles
- Other names
- Clifton, Lucille
- Birthdate
- 1936-06-27
- Date of death
- 2010-02-13
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Howard University (Washington, DC, age 16)
Fredonia State Teachers College (1955) - Occupations
- poet
author
children's book author
writer in residence (Coppin State College ∙ Baltimore ∙ Maryland ∙ 1971)
Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets (1999)
poet laureate (State of Maryland ∙ 1979-1982) (show all 9)
Distinguished Professor of Humanities (St. Mary's College of Maryland)
claims clerk (New York State Division of Employment ∙ Buffalo ∙ 1958-1960)
literature assistant (Office of Education ∙ Washington ∙ D.C. ∙ 1960-1971) - Organizations
- St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Awards and honors
- National Endowment for the Arts fellowships (1970, 1973)
YM-YWHA Poetry Center Discovery Award
University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize (1980)
Shelley Memorial Award (1991/1992)
Lannan Literary Award (Poetry ∙ 1996)
Emmy Award, American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (show all 10)
National Book Award (2000)
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement, 2001)
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (2007)
Frost Medal (2010) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Depew, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Depew, New York, USA (birth)
New York, USA
Columbia, Maryland, USA - Place of death
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
This slim book is a memoir, and a family history. Written by a poet, which gives it an ease and pacing and repetition that is memorable, comfortable, and feels very safe and homey.
Clifton frames this around her father's funeral, a time when she traveled home, saw lots of relatives, and thought a lot about her father's life and the stories he told about their family history. And that is what we have here. The repetition feels exactly like a parent telling their children stories--the same show more things pop up here and there, with different phrasing and context. She frames how he taught her to be brave and capable and confident despite your surroundings, just like his great-grandmother who raised him from the age of 8. Clifton took all of this to heart.
There is a good family tree (with sources) on familysearch.org. It does not go back to Carolie and the first Lucy--whether their passed-down history is exactly 100% true (lack of online sources does not mean it is not true, as any historian or genealogist can confirm) is irrelevant in light of the relevance and importance of the stories to the later generations, giving them history and background and love.
As a historian and genealogist, I wish everyone (especially the oldest generations) would write their own version of this. No they would not be poetic and evocative like this, but they would still be important within their own families and even to their own local historical/genealogical societies. show less
Clifton frames this around her father's funeral, a time when she traveled home, saw lots of relatives, and thought a lot about her father's life and the stories he told about their family history. And that is what we have here. The repetition feels exactly like a parent telling their children stories--the same show more things pop up here and there, with different phrasing and context. She frames how he taught her to be brave and capable and confident despite your surroundings, just like his great-grandmother who raised him from the age of 8. Clifton took all of this to heart.
There is a good family tree (with sources) on familysearch.org. It does not go back to Carolie and the first Lucy--whether their passed-down history is exactly 100% true (lack of online sources does not mean it is not true, as any historian or genealogist can confirm) is irrelevant in light of the relevance and importance of the stories to the later generations, giving them history and background and love.
As a historian and genealogist, I wish everyone (especially the oldest generations) would write their own version of this. No they would not be poetic and evocative like this, but they would still be important within their own families and even to their own local historical/genealogical societies. show less
I had to buy a new copy because I don't know what happened to mine--did I loan it out? If I did, I hope that person loves it as much as I do. I feel like I've lost the ability to talk about poetry, but I will try. The topics she chooses can be so focused in and then so focused big and outward. Her language and form are minimalist, but still expansive--precise. There is something so bared about her voice. These "tiny" poems are so vulnerable and thus so courageous. I will always love poetry show more about periods, about the physical experience of being in a certain body. And then songs to the world and to the past. The quilt concept is perfect. show less
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 by Lucille Clifton (edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser) brought all the feelings to the table. Clifton's poems have a sophisticated simplicity that lends beautifully to the complex issues she covers in this wide-ranging book of poems. Some of the more personal poems felt almost voyeuristic but left me wanting to know more. Clifton made me think and feel in poems that pulled me into the world from her point of view. As with any show more collection, some of Clifton's poems resonated with me more deeply than others. I enjoy poems that make me question what I think I know and challenge me to feel things beyond my experience. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 certainly accomplished both. show less
Divided into three parts, with the first part reflection being poems about childhood and family and survival, ending with that brilliant and famous poem:
won’t you celebrate with me
what i shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both non-white and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay.
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
The second show more part is entitled lightning bolt , was my favourite part, more outward-looking than the first part yet still self-questioning, self-assessing, with more uncertainty and gloomier than the first part of the collection. And excellent poems such as this one:
each morning i pull myself
out of despair
from nights of coals and a tongue
blistered with smiling
the step past the mother bed
is a high step
the walk through the widow’s door
is a long walk
and who are these voices calling
from every mirrored thing
say it coward say it
Then the last part is splendor , mythological and spiritual and very fascinating. I loved this book, a fantastic opening to this new year. show less
won’t you celebrate with me
what i shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both non-white and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay.
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
The second show more part is entitled lightning bolt , was my favourite part, more outward-looking than the first part yet still self-questioning, self-assessing, with more uncertainty and gloomier than the first part of the collection. And excellent poems such as this one:
each morning i pull myself
out of despair
from nights of coals and a tongue
blistered with smiling
the step past the mother bed
is a high step
the walk through the widow’s door
is a long walk
and who are these voices calling
from every mirrored thing
say it coward say it
Then the last part is splendor , mythological and spiritual and very fascinating. I loved this book, a fantastic opening to this new year. show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 49
- Also by
- 60
- Members
- 3,341
- Popularity
- #7,645
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 131
- ISBNs
- 132
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 8