Colette Inez
Encyclopedia
Colette Inez is an American
poet and composer, and a faculty member at Columbia University
’s Undergraduate Writing Program. She has published over nine books of poetry and has won the Guggenheim Fellowship
, Rockefeller Fellowship, and two National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA Fellowships) and two Pushcart Prize
s and many other awards. Her memoir, The Secret of M. Dulong, was released in 2008, by The University of Wisconsin Press
.
, Colette Inez spent her early years in a Belgian Catholic orphanage, arriving in America as an apparent orphan at the age of eight at the start of World War II, the next few years she lived with an abusive adoptive family on Long Island, New York.
She graduated from Hunter College
.
winning composer David Del Tredici
’s album Secret Music (2002) : "Alive and Taking Names," "The Happy Child," "Good News! Nilda is Back," and "Chateauneuf du Pape, the Pope's Valet Speaks" (all from her 1993 collection Getting Under Way: New and Selected Poems), as well as "The Beckoning" (first published in the New Orleans Review in 1999).
She has taught at Bucknell University
, Ohio University
, Denison University
, State University of New York
(Stony Brook), Hunter College
, University of Tennessee
(Knoxville), The New School
and started teaching at Columbia University
in 1983 starting the Columbia University School of General Studies
and subsequently as a lecturer at University's the Undergraduate Writing Program.
Over the years, she has published over nine books, as well as several essays and short stories in journals. Her work has been part of several anthologies. Her Lyrics and Libretto, have set to music by Mira J. Spektor, for Villa Diodatti (2008), directed by Rob Urbinati
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet and composer, and a faculty member at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
’s Undergraduate Writing Program. She has published over nine books of poetry and has won the Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, Rockefeller Fellowship, and two National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(NEA Fellowships) and two Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
s and many other awards. Her memoir, The Secret of M. Dulong, was released in 2008, by The University of Wisconsin Press
University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...
.
Early life and education
Born as love child of a French scholar and a French-American priest in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Colette Inez spent her early years in a Belgian Catholic orphanage, arriving in America as an apparent orphan at the age of eight at the start of World War II, the next few years she lived with an abusive adoptive family on Long Island, New York.
She graduated from Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
.
Career
Her first book, The Woman Who Loved Worms (1972), was adapted into a dance performance by the Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company. Five of her poems were used as the lyrics of a song cycle, Miz Inez Sez, featured on Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning composer David Del Tredici
David Del Tredici
David Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is an American composer. According to Del Tredici's website, Aaron Copland said David Del Tredici "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift...
’s album Secret Music (2002) : "Alive and Taking Names," "The Happy Child," "Good News! Nilda is Back," and "Chateauneuf du Pape, the Pope's Valet Speaks" (all from her 1993 collection Getting Under Way: New and Selected Poems), as well as "The Beckoning" (first published in the New Orleans Review in 1999).
She has taught at Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
, Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
, Denison University
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
, State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
(Stony Brook), Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
, University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
(Knoxville), The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
and started teaching at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1983 starting the Columbia University School of General Studies
Columbia University School of General Studies
The School of General Studies, commonly known as General Studies or simply GS, is one of the three official undergraduate colleges at Columbia University. It is a highly selective Ivy League undergraduate liberal arts college designed for non-traditional students and confers Bachelor of Art and...
and subsequently as a lecturer at University's the Undergraduate Writing Program.
Over the years, she has published over nine books, as well as several essays and short stories in journals. Her work has been part of several anthologies. Her Lyrics and Libretto, have set to music by Mira J. Spektor, for Villa Diodatti (2008), directed by Rob Urbinati
Works
- The Woman Who Loved Worms, Doubleday, 1972.
- Alive and Taking Names. Ohio University Press, 1977.
- Eight Minutes from the Sun. Saturday Press, 1983.
- Family Life, Story Line Press, 1992
- Getting Underway: New & Selected Poetry, Story Line Press, 1993.
- Naming the Moons. Press of Appletree Alley, 1994.
- Clemency', Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1998.
- Spinoza Doesn't Come Here Anymore, Melville House PublishingMelville House PublishingMelville House Publishing is an independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 by the husband and wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey, a location Johnson jokingly called "the Left Bank" of New York City...
, 2004. ISBN 978-0-974960-91-3. - The Secret of M. Dulong, University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. ISBN 0299214206.Excerpts
- For Reasons of Music
Awards
- 1985: Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- Rockefeller Fellowship
- NEA FellowshipNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(twice)
External links
- Colette Inez Page at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
- Colette Inez, Biography and Poems at Poetry FoundationPoetry FoundationThe Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly....
- The Poetry Worm: A Portrait of Colette Inez by Dennis BernsteinDennis BernsteinDennis Bernstein is producer and co-host of the radio news program, Flashpoints Radio on Pacifica Radio. Flashpoints originates from Pacifica Radio's flagship radio station, KPFA, listener-sponsored, noncommercial FM radio that is also carried on the Internet....
at Tulane UniversityTulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...