Thomas Sayers Ellis
Encyclopedia
Thomas Sayers Ellis is a poet
, photographer, and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College
in Yonkers, New York
, and a core faculty member of the Lesley University
Low Residency MFA Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He previously taught as an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland.
and attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
. In 1988 he co-founded The Dark Room Collective in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an organization that celebrated and gave greater visibility to emerging and established writers of color. Ellis received his B.A. from Harvard University
and his M.F.A. from Brown University
in 1995.
Ellis is known in the poetry community as a literary activist and innovator, whose poems "resist limitations and rigorously embrace wholeness." His poems have appeared in magazines such as AGNI Callaloo, Grand Street, Harvard Review, Tin House, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, and anthologized in The Best American Poetry (1997, 2001, and 2010) and in Take Three: AGNI New Poets Series (Graywolf Press, 1996), an anthology series featuring the work of three emerging poets in each volume. He has received fellowships and grants from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Ohio Arts Council, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
, Yaddo
, and the MacDowell Colony
.
Thomas Sayers Ellis is a contributing editor to Callaloo and a consulting editor to A Public Space. He compiled and edited Quotes Community: Notes for Black Poets (University of Michigan Press
, Poets on Poetry Series).
His first full-length collection, The Maverick Room, was published by Graywolf Press
and won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award
from Ploughshares
.
He is also the author of a chapbook The Genuine Negro Hero (Kent State University Press, 2001) and the chaplet Song On (Wintered Press 2005).
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, photographer, and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
in Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
, and a core faculty member of the Lesley University
Lesley University
Lesley University is a private, coeducational university in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.The university is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and New England Collegiate Conference.-History:The...
Low Residency MFA Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He previously taught as an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in Cleveland.
Life
He was raised in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)
Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C., United States. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, two blocks from the intersection of New Jersey and New York Avenues...
. In 1988 he co-founded The Dark Room Collective in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an organization that celebrated and gave greater visibility to emerging and established writers of color. Ellis received his B.A. from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and his M.F.A. from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1995.
Ellis is known in the poetry community as a literary activist and innovator, whose poems "resist limitations and rigorously embrace wholeness." His poems have appeared in magazines such as AGNI Callaloo, Grand Street, Harvard Review, Tin House, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, and anthologized in The Best American Poetry (1997, 2001, and 2010) and in Take Three: AGNI New Poets Series (Graywolf Press, 1996), an anthology series featuring the work of three emerging poets in each volume. He has received fellowships and grants from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Ohio Arts Council, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is a writers' conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont...
, Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, and the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
.
Thomas Sayers Ellis is a contributing editor to Callaloo and a consulting editor to A Public Space. He compiled and edited Quotes Community: Notes for Black Poets (University of Michigan Press
University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is part of the University of Michigan Library and serves as a primary publishing unit of the University of Michigan, with special responsibility for the creation and promotion of scholarly, educational, and regional books and other materials in digital and print...
, Poets on Poetry Series).
His first full-length collection, The Maverick Room, was published by Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
and won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award
John C. Zacharis First Book Award
The John C. Zacharis First Book Award honors the best first book of poetry or fiction by a Ploughshares writer. The award carries a cash prize of $1,500, and feature publication in the "Postscripts" section of the Winter issue. It was started in 1991....
from Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
.
The book takes as its subject the social, geographical and historical neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, bringing different tones of voice to bear on the various quadrants of the city.
He is also the author of a chapbook The Genuine Negro Hero (Kent State University Press, 2001) and the chaplet Song On (Wintered Press 2005).
Awards
- 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Whiting Writers' AwardWhiting Writers' AwardThe Whiting Writers' Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation and has been presented since 1985. As of 2007, winners receive US $50,000.-External links:**... - 2006 John C. Zacharis First Book AwardJohn C. Zacharis First Book AwardThe John C. Zacharis First Book Award honors the best first book of poetry or fiction by a Ploughshares writer. The award carries a cash prize of $1,500, and feature publication in the "Postscripts" section of the Winter issue. It was started in 1991....
Sources
- Author Website
- BlueFlower Arts > Author's Booking Agent > Author Page
- Ploughshares > Authors & Articles > Postscripts: Zacharis Award Winner Thomas Sayers Ellis > by Don Lee Winter 2006 -07 Issue
External links
- Publisher's Weekly: 'Identity Repair Poet: PW Talks with Thomas Sayers Ellis' (2010)
- Audio: MoMA: Multimedia: Thomas Sayers Ellis: The New Perform-A-Form (2008)
- Poetry Foundation > Poet > Thomas Sayers Ellis
- Audio: WAMU - 88.5 FM - American University Radio > Interview with Thomas Sayers Ellis > Sept. 21, 2004
- Audio Interview: WCPN Radio (NPR) > Thomas Sayers Ellis
- Poets & Writers News & Trends > Q&A: Eady Sees Cave Canem Success > By Thomas Sayers Ellis > Nov/Dec 2006