| posted 18 December 2005 Etheridge Knight, born in
Corinth, Mississippi, perhaps will be remembered for his
excellence in blending oral and poetic traditions as he
tried to create works that confronted personal and
social dimensions with relentless honesty. Some critics
praised him on his ability to render the genre of the
toast as high art. He began writing poetry in 1963 while
he was incarcerated at Indiana prison. His books include
Poems from Prison,
Black Voices from Prison,
Belly Song and Other Poems,
Born of a Woman,
and the
Essential Etheridge Knight. Knight
received NEA grants in 1972 and 1980 and won a
Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974. His work is included in
such anthologies as Dices and Black Bones,
Norton Anthology of American Poets, New Black
Voices, and Black Poets. Etheridge died in
1991.
Source:
Black Southern Voices, Edited
by John Oliver Killens and Jerry W. Ward, Jr.
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Guide to the Etheridge Knight
Collection
Special Collections
and Rare Books, Irwin Library, Butler University
Etheridge Knight was born on April
19, 1931, in Corinth, Mississippi. In 1947, two years
after dropping out of school in the eighth grade, Knight
joined the army. He saw active duty in the Korean War,
during which he received a shrapnel wound. By the time
he was discharged from the army in 1957, Knight was
suffering from addictions to drugs and alcohol. He
turned to crime to support his habit, and in 1960 was
arrested for robbery. While serving an eight-year prison
term in the Indiana State Prison Knight wrote poetry.
Renowned poet Gwendolyn Brooks met Knight during a
prison visit and encouraged his writing. In 1968 Knight
saw his first book published, Poems from Prison
(Broadside Press).
Knight entered into a successful
period during the early 1970s, enjoying Popularity and
recognition. He led Free People’s Poetry Workshops
(including one in Indianapolis), gave numerous readings,
and was a poet in residence at the University of
Pittsburgh, the University of Hartford, and Lincoln
University. His critical acclaim included a grant from
the National Endowment for the Arts (1972) and a
fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation (1974). He
continued to be plagued, however, by his addictions, and
periodically sought treatment from veterans' hospitals.
The next decade saw the publication
of two volumes of poetry, including The Essential
Etheridge Knight (1986), which brought together pieces
from his five volumes of poetry. In 1989 Knight once
again led a Free People’s Poetry Workshop in
Indianapolis, which ran until his death. He worked with
Butler University’s Writer’s Studio in 1990, the same
year that he earned a bachelor’s degree in American
poetry and criminal justice from Martin Center
University in Indianapolis. On March 10, 1991, Knight
died from lung cancer. The Etheridge Knight Festival of
the Arts was held in Indianapolis in 1992 and 1993, and
in 1993 the Indiana Arts Commission posthumously awarded
Knight the Governor’s Arts Award.
Scope and Content
This collection contains the
personal and literary papers in Etheridge Knight’s
possession upon his death. Some items date as far back
as 1965, but most fall into the period from 1982 to
1991. A collection of Knight’s earlier literary and
personal papers is housed at the Ward M. Canaday Center
at the University of Toledo. The bulk of this collection
is received correspondence, although there is a series
of letters written by Etheridge Knight. The received
correspondence has been subdivided into two categories:
personal and professional.
http://www.butler.edu/library/PDF/rare/knight.pdf
Contact Information: Special
Collections and Rare Books / Irwin Library / Butler
University / 4600 Sunset Avenue / Indianapolis, Indiana
46208-3485 USA / Phone: 317.940.9265 / Fax: 317.940.8039
/
schildsh@butler.edu /
http://www.butler.edu/library/libinfo/rare/
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update 3 January 2009 |
