Amiri Baraka
Poet, Author
1934 – 2014
Who was Amiri Baraka?
Amiri Baraka, formerly known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at a number of universities, including the State University of New York at Buffalo and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received the PEN Open Book Award, formerly known as the Beyond Margins Award, in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the Gone.
Baraka's poetry and writing has attracted both extreme praise and condemnation. Within the African-American community, some compare him to James Baldwin and call Baraka one of the most respected and most widely published Black writers of his generation. Others have said his work is an expression of violence, misogyny, homophobia and racism. Baraka's brief tenure as Poet Laureate of New Jersey, involved controversy over a public reading of his poem "Somebody Blew Up America?" and accusations of anti-semitism, and some negative attention from critics, and politicians.
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- Born
- Oct 7, 1934
Newark - Also known as
- Everett LeRoi Jones
- Baraka, Amiri
- Imamu Baraka
- Imamu Amiri Baraka
- LeRoy Jones
- Parents
- Spouses
- Hettie Jones
(1958/10/13 - 1965/08) - Amina Baraka
(1966/08 - )
- Hettie Jones
- Children
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- Columbia University
- The New School
- Howard University
- Rutgers University
- Barringer High School
- Lived in
- Newark
- Died
- Jan 9, 2014
Newark
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Amiri Baraka." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/amiri_baraka>.
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