Jayne Cortez’s Followers (22)

Jayne Cortez

Born

in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, The United States

May 10, 1934

Died

December 28, 2012

Genre

Poetry

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Jayne Cortez was born in Arizona, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and maintained two residences, one in New York City and one in Dakar, Senegal.

She was the author of ten books of poems and has performed her poetry with music on nine recordings. Her poetry is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound.

Cortez has presented her works and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals including: the Museum of Modern Art New York, UNESCO. Paris, the Berlin Jazz Festival, Germany, 11 Perfil da Literatura, Sao Paulo, Brazil,. Fourth World Congress on Women, Beijing, China, the Arts Alive International Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa, Banlieues Bleues Festival, France, Tampere Happening, Jayne Cortez was born in Arizona, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and maintained two residences, one in New York City and one in Dakar, Senegal.

She was the author of ten books of poems and has performed her poetry with music on nine recordings. Her poetry is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound.

Cortez has presented her works and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals including: the Museum of Modern Art New York, UNESCO. Paris, the Berlin Jazz Festival, Germany, 11 Perfil da Literatura, Sao Paulo, Brazil,. Fourth World Congress on Women, Beijing, China, the Arts Alive International Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa, Banlieues Bleues Festival, France, Tampere Happening, Finland and New York University.

Her poems have been translated into many languages and widely published in anthologies, journals, and magazines including: Post Modern American Poetry, Daughters of Africa, Poems for the Millennium, The Jazz Poetry Anthology, Surrealist Women, Sulfur, Black Scholar, Presence Africaine and Mother Jones. She is the recipient of several awards: Arts International, New York Foundation on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International African Festival Award, the Langston Hughes Award, and the American Book Award.

Cortez appears in the Canadian film 'Poetry in Motion' and the music video "Nelson Mandela is Coming" produced by Globalvision. Her poem "I Am New York City" was used as the theme for "Honor" an episode of the Fox Television series "Tribeca. " She is also on screen in the film "Women In Jazz." Her most recent books are "Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere" published by Serpent's Tail/ High Risk Books, and soon to be released "Jazz Fan Looks Back" published by Hanging Loose Press. Her work as activist and organizer is typified by her presidency of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa, her coordination of the Yari Yari International Conference of Women Writers of African Descent, NYU, the direction of the film Yari Yari, her organization of the 1999 international symposium "Slave Routes: The Long Memory," and her participation in the Round Table: Dialogue Among Civilizations at the United Nations Millennium Summit 2000.

"The Dictionary of Literary Biography" asserts that Cortez has distinguished herself as "a creative artist uniquely able to reach audiences for whom books of poetry have little appeal." And critic Barbara Christian notes, Cortez "has forged connections in her work that help us see how our histories are related. The result is a poetry as wide in its scope as it is compelling in its craft."

Jayne Cortez died of heart failure in Manhattan, New York, on December 28, 2012. A memorial celebration of her life, organised by her family on February 6, 2013, at the Cooper Union Foundation Building, included tributes by Amiri Baraka, Danny Glover, Robin Kelley, Genna Rae McNeil, Quincy Troupe, Steve Dalachinsky, George Campbell Jr., Eugene Redmond, Rashidah Ishmaili, and Manthia Diawara, as well as musical contributions by Randy Weston, T. K. Blue and The Firespitters. The Spring 2013 issue of The Black Scholar (Vol. 43, No. 1/2) was dedicated to her memory and work ...more

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Jayne Cortez’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 287 ratings · 38 reviews · 28 distinct works • Similar authors

	On the Imperial Highway: New and Selected Poems 4.31 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Coagulations: New and Selected Poems 4.30 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 1988 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere (High Risk Books) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 1996 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jazz Fan Looks Back 3.95 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Firespitter really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1982 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mouth on Paper 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Festivals and Funerals 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1971	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poetic Magnetic really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1991	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scarifications 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Beautiful Book really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Jayne Cortez (?)

“There It Is:

And if we don’t fight
If we don’t resist
If we don’t organize and unify and
Get the power to control our own lives
Then we will wear
The exaggerated look of captivity
The stylized look of submission
The bizarre look of suicide
The dehumanized look of fear
And the decomposed look of repression
Forever and ever and ever
And there it is”
― Jayne Cortez

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Ersatz TLS: Literary Birthdays - May 10th through May 16th	1	15	May 10, 2021 01:45PM

Jayne Cortez’s Followers (22)

Jayne Cortez

Combine EditionsJayne Cortez’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Jayne Cortez’s books