Etheridge Knight

Zachary Perdieu (University of Georgia)

Ed. by Matthew Hofer, University of New Mexico
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

Born 19 Apr 1931
Died 10 Mar 1991
Activity 1968-1991

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Cultural Identities

African American

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Knight's Works

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Upon the publication of his first book of poetry,

Poems from Prison

(1968), Etheridge Knight was championed as a vital and authentic new voice of the Black Arts Movement while still incarcerated in the Indiana State Penitentiary. From this unique beginning, Knight went on to receive a National Endowment of the Arts grant and Guggenheim Fellowship, and his follow-up collection,

Belly Song and Other Poems

(1973), was nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. Given his themes and experience with mass incarceration, addiction, and black masculinity, Etheridge Knight remains one of the most influential and yet lesser-known American poets.

Knight, the third of seven children, was born on 19 April 1931 in Corinth, Mississippi to Etheridge Knight Sr. and Belzora Cozart Knight.

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2058 words

Citation: Perdieu, Zachary. "Etheridge Knight". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14669, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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