Eugene B. Redmond (born December 1, 1937,

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

)Burton, Jennifer
"Eugene Redmond"
''Oxford Companion to African American Literature''. is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and academic. His poetry is closely connected to the

Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...

and the city of East St. Louis, Illinois.

Life

Eugene B. Redmond was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. He earned his bachelor's degree from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

(SIU) in 1964, and his master's degree from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in 1966, both in English Literature. He became a teacher-counselor at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in Higher Education, in East St. Louis, where he worked under the direction of Dr. Edward W. Crosby, his mentor, until 1969. He left SIU to teach at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

for a year, and then joined the faculty at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

as a professor of English. In 1985 he returned to East St. Louis as the special assistant to the superintendent for cultural and language arts at the East St. Louis School District until 1989. He taught at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

(1989–90), before joining the faculty at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Ca ...

(SIUE),Weitzman, Lisa S
"Eugene Redmond"
Gale Contemporary Black Biography. where he is currently an emeritus professor of English. Redmond’s published works include a pamphlet poem and six poetry collections, as well as numerous contributions to journals and anthologies. He has edited two anthologies of African-American poetry and eight works by

Henry Dumas Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an American writer and poet. He has been called "an absolute genius" by Toni Morrison, who as a commissioning editor at Random House published posthumous collections both of his poetry, ''Play Ebo ...

. Dumas had taught at nearby

Hiram College Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonse ...

before he was shot down in a New York subway, in a case of mistaken identity. It was Dr Crosby who pushed to have SIU put Dumas's writings into publication and urged Redmond to edit the works, which Redmond continues to do to this day. In 1976, Redmond was named Poet Laureate of East St. Louis. Redmond published his survey and analysis of 200 years of African-American poetry, ''Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, A Critical History'', in 1976. He is the founding editor o
''Drumvoices Revue''
a multicultural literary journal jointly published by the English Department of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club. Redmond has donated his collection, comprising his personal library, manuscripts, photographs, posters, and other ephemera, to SIUE Lovejoy Library. Selections from the collection have been made available in the online collectio
EBR African American Cultural Life
Other papers are held at the

University of Illinois at Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois, United States. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate edu ...

.Historical Manuscript Collections (O-R)
Brookens Library, University of Illinois at Springfield.

Awards

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Creative Writing Fellowship * Lifetime Achievement Award from Pan-African Movement USA *

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published 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 ...

: Best of Small Presses * Tribute to an Elder from the African Poetry Theater of NYC * 1993

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

for ''The Eye in the Ceiling: Selected Poems''

Works

* * * * * * * *

Contributions to anthologies

* * * * * *Marie Harris, Kathleen Aguero, eds (1989), "Epigrams for My Father", ''An Ear to the Ground'', University of Georgia Press.
John H. Bracey Jr.

Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 8, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays ...

, an
James Smethurst
eds (2014). "DA-DUM-DUN: A BAM Triumvirate of Conch/Us/Nest:

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...

in East St. Louis, Illinois (Reminiscence)".
SOS-Calling All Black People: A Black Arts Movement Reader
'. University of Massachusetts Press. .

References

External links

''Sentinel Poetry (Online) #40'', March 2006. *Janet Grace Riehl
"Eugene B. Redmond, poet laureate of East St. Louis, master teacher"
Riehl Life, June 18, 2008.
''Drumvoices Revue''
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
EBR African American Cultural Life (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)
– A digital collection of photographs, posters, and pamphlets selected from the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Collection at Lovejoy Library.

��Video oral history interviews with Eugene B. Redmond, accompanied by transcripts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Redmond, Eugene B. American male poets 1937 births Washington University in St. Louis alumni Southern Illinois University Edwardsville faculty Living people Municipal poets laureate in the United States Oberlin College faculty 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American poets Writers from St. Louis American Book Award winners