February 13, 2010

Lucille Clifton Dies at 73

Lucille Clifton  1936-2010

Lucille Clifton, who achieved some of the literary world's highest honors as a major American poet, died today at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore at age 73.
Clifton had been ill for some time with an undiagnosed infection and had undergone surgery to remove her colon yesterday. 

Clifton lived in Columbia, Md., and was the former poet laureate of the state. She was a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and won the National Book Award in 2001 for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 and in 2007, she became the first African-American woman to be awarded one of the literary world's highest honors — the Ruth Lilly Prize for lifetime achievement by the Poetry Foundation.


 
Lucille Clifton reads "What Haunts Him" and "Sorrows" at the 2008 Dodge Poetry Festival



1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the viewing of such a wonderful vocal vision. Lucille Clifton, may you rest in eternal peace.

    ReplyDelete

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