Jayne Cortez
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Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist. Her writing is part of the canon of 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 ...
. She was married to jazz saxophonist
Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...
from 1954 to 1964, and their son is jazz drummer Denardo Coleman. In 1975, Cortez married painter, sculptor, and printmaker Melvin Edwards, and they lived in
Dakar, Senegal Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 million in 2023. Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the w ...
, and New York City.


Biography

Jayne Cortez was born Sallie Jayne Richardson on the Army base at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on May 10, 1934. Her father was a career soldier who served in both world wars; her mother was a secretary. Cortez was the second-born of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother. At the age of seven, she moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, where she grew up in the
Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' *Angie ...
district. Busby, Margaret
"Jayne Cortez obituary: Poet whose incantatory performances could be militant, lyrical and surreal"
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Friday, January 4, 2013.
Young Jayne Richardson reveled in the jazz and Latin recordings that her parents collected. She studied art, music and drama in high school. Later she attended Compton Community College, but dropped out of her course work due to financial difficulties. 1/sup> She took the surname Cortez, the maiden name of her Filipino maternal grandmother, early in her artistic career. In 1954, Cortez married jazz saxophonist
Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...
when she was 18 years old. Their son Denardo, born in 1956, began drumming with his father while still a child and devoted his adult life to collaborating with both parents in their respective careers. In 1964, Cortez divorced Coleman and founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, of which she served as artistic director until 1970. Active in the struggle for
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
, she collaborated with famous civil rights activist
Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and leader of the civil rights movement. She was the vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, ...
and strongly advocated using art as a vehicle to push political causes, with her work being used to register black voters in
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
in the early 1960s. When reflecting on this time in a 1990 interview with D. H. Melhem, Cortez spoke of its influences on her work, saying: "Being unemployed and without food can make you very sad. But you weren't the problem. The problem existed before you knew there was a problem. The problem is the system, and you can organize, unify, and do something about the system. That's what I learned." She traveled throughout Europe and Africa, and moved to New York City in 1967. In 1969, her first poetry collection, titled ''Pissstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares'', was published and Cortez went on to become the author of 11 other books of poems, and performed her poetry with music on nine recordings. Most of her work was issued under the auspices of Bola Press, a publishing company she founded in 1971. From 1977 to 1983, Cortez was an English teacher for
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
. /sup> She presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the United States. Her poems have been translated into 28 languages and widely published in anthologies, journals and magazines, including '' Mother Jones'', '' Postmodern American Poetry'' (1994), ''
Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora ...
'' (1992), ''Poems for the Millennium'', and ''The Jazz Poetry Anthology''. In 1975, she married sculptor and printmaker Melvin Edwards, and they lived in
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
,
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, and New York City. His work appeared in her publications as well as on some of her album covers. Cortez and Edwards maintained two residences, one in New York City and one in Dakar, Senegal, which Cortez said "really feels like home". Cortez died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, New York, on December 28, 2012, aged 78.


Poetry and performance

The musicians with whom Cortez aligned herself reflected the sociopolitical and cultural elements to which she attached the greatest importance. Born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 1934, she grew up near Los Angeles under the spell of her parents' jazz and blues record collection, which also included examples of Latin American dance bands and field recordings of indigenous American music. Raised in a musically artistic household, in "some of her poems about musicians, Cortez addresses the dark side of a life in music, exploring the addiction and loneliness that many believe are inherently linked to a life in the performing arts." /sup> Early exposure to the recordings of
Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...
instilled in Cortez a deeply etched sense of female identity, which, combined with a strong will, shaped her into an uncommonly outspoken individual. She became transformed by the sounds of
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...
,
Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
,
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
, and no-nonsense vocalist
Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...
, whose visceral approach to self-expression clearly encouraged the poet not to pull any punches. In 1997, Cortez described herself to ''The Weekly Journal'' in London as "very much a jazz poet", in that she tried to reflect the fullness of the black experience, saying: "Jazz isn't just one type of music, it's an umbrella that covers the history of black people from African drumming to field hollers and the blues." Cortez, who respected the memory of independent performing artist
Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...
, preferred to name inspirations rather than influences, especially when discussing writers. Those with whom she identified included
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
,
Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...
,
Léon Damas Léon-Gontran Damas (March 28, 1912 – January 22, 1978) was a French poet and politician. He was one of the founders of the Négritude movement. He also used the pseudonym Lionel Georges André Cabassou. Biography Léon Damas was born in Ca ...
,
Christopher Okigbo Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932 – 1967) was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding Postcolonialism, postcolonial English-languag ...
,
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 ...
,
Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous b ...
, and Richard Wright. Parallels with the ugly/beautiful poetics of
Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...
also suggest themselves. Her words were usually written, chanted, and spoken in rhythmic repetition that resembled the intricate, tactile language of African and Caribbean drumming. Most of her work from the early 1970s onwards was issued by Bola Press, the publishing company she founded. One of these early works, ''Festivals and Funerals'' (1971), while not as well known as ''Pissstained stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares'', is considered significant for how much it derives from Cortez's personal experiences, as well as featuring "the voices of ordinary working people confronting social issues and weighing their role in fighting for change." /sup> She cut her first album, ''Celebrations and Solitudes'', at
White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
, in 1974. A set of duets with bassist Richard Davis, it was released on the
Strata-East Strata-East Records is an American record company and label specialising in jazz founded in 1971 by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell with the release of their first recording '' Music Inc.'' The label released over 50 albums in the 1970s. Man ...
label. The first Bola Press recording, taped in October 1979, was called ''Unsubmissive Blues'' and included a piece "For the Brave Young Students in Soweto." Cortez delivered her poetry backed by an electro-funk modern jazz group called the Firespitters, built around a core of guitarist Bern Nix, bassist Al McDowell, and drummer Denardo Coleman. For years, the Firespitters and Ornette Coleman's Prime Time coexisted, with Denardo as the axis, and various players participated in both units. During the summer of 1982, Cortez delivered ''There It Is'', an earthshaking album containing several pieces that truly define her artistry. These include: "I See
Chano Pozo Luciano Pozo González (January 7, 1915 – December 3, 1948), known professionally as Chano Pozo, was a Cuban jazz percussionist, singer, dancer, and composer. Despite only living to the age of 33, he played a major role in the founding of Latin ...
," a joyously evocative salute to Dizzy Gillespie's legendary Cuban percussionist (whom she saw at a concert in
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...
, Los Angeles, when she was 14); a searing indictment of patriarchal violence called "If the Drum Is a Woman", and "US/Nigerian Relations", which consists of the sentence "They want the oil/but they don't want the people" chanted dervish-like over an escalating, electrified free jazz blowout. Recorded in 1986, her next album, ''Maintain Control'', is especially memorable for Ornette Coleman's profoundly emotive saxophone on "No Simple Explanations", the unsettling "Deadly Radiation Blues", and the harshly gyrating "Economic Love Song", which is another of her tantrum-like repetition rituals, this time built around the words "Military spending, huge profits and death." Among several subsequent albums ''Cheerful & Optimistic'' (1994) stands out for the use of an African kora player and poignant currents of wistfulness during "Sacred Trees" and "I Wonder Who". Additionally, this album contains a convincing ode to anti-militarism in "War Devoted to War" and the close-to-the-marrow mini-manifestos "Samba Is Power" and "Find Your Own Voice". In 1996, her album ''Taking the Blues Back Home'' was released on Harmolodic/Verve; ''Borders of Disorderly Time'', which appeared in 2002, featured guest artists
Bobby Bradford Bobby Lee Bradford (born July 19, 1934) is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. In addition to his solo work, Bradford is noted for his work with John Carter, Vinny Golia and Ornette Coleman. In October 2009, Brad ...
,
Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...
, and
James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues music, blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been ...
. Cortez appeared on screen in the films ''Women in Jazz'' and '' Poetry in Motion'' by
Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film film director, director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass (1999 film), Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Furt ...
. Her impact upon the development of spoken-word performance art during the late 20th century has yet to be intelligently recognized. In some ways her confrontational political outspokenness and dead-serious cathartic performance technique place Cortez in league with
Judith Malina Judith Malina (June 4, 1926 – April 10, 2015) was a German-born American actress, director and writer. With her husband Julian Beck, Malina co-founded The Living Theatre, a radical political theatre troupe that rose to prominence in New York C ...
and
The Living Theater The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/p ...
. According to the online African-American Registry, "her ability to push the acceptable limits of expression to address issues of race, sex and homophobia place her in a category that few other women occupy." ''Firespitter: The Collected Poems of Jayne Cortez'', "a publication anticipated for over a decade", gathers together poems from 1969 to 2012, the year of Cortez's death, edited by
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...
and with a foreword by
Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
, published by
Nightboat Books Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books. History The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and ...
in 2025.


Organization of Women Writers of Africa

In 1991, along with Ghanaian writer
Ama Ata Aidoo Ama Ata Aidoo (23 March 1942 — 31 May 2023) was a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright, politician, and academic. She was a Secretary for Education in Ghana from 1982 to 1983 under Jerry Rawlings's PNDC administration. Her first play, '' The Dil ...
, Cortez co-founded the
Organization of Women Writers of Africa The Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA) is an organization for women writers in Africa. Founded in 1991, the OWWA aims to promote the oral and written literature of African women, and address issues concerning publishing, censorship and ...
(OWWA), and served as its president for many years thereafter, with board members including J. e. Franklin, Cheryll Y. Greene,
Rashidah Ismaili Rashidah Ismaili, also known as Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr (born 1941),"Rashidah Ismaili"
, and
Louise Meriwether Louise Meriwether (May 8, 1923 – October 10, 2023) was an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, ...
,
Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...
, Rosamond S. King,
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...
, Gabrielle Civil,
Alexis De Veaux Alexis De Veaux (sometimes as Alexis DeVeaux) (born 1948) is an American writer and illustrator. She chaired the Department of Women's Studies, at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Biography De Veaux was born in Harlem on September 2 ...
, LaTasha N. Diggs,
Zetta Elliott Zetta Elliott (born October 26, 1972) is a Canadian-American poet, playwright, and author. Her first picture book ''Bird'', won many awards. She has also been recognized for other contributions to children's literature, as well as for her essays, ...
, Donette Francis,
Paula Giddings Paula Jane Giddings (born 1947) is an American writer, historian, and civil rights activist. She is the author of ''When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America'' (1984), ''In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma The ...
, Renée Larrier, Tess Onwueme, Coumba Touré,
Maryse Condé Maryse Condé (née Marise Liliane Appoline Boucolon; 11 February 1934 – 2 April 2024) was a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. She was also an academic, whose teaching car ...
,
Nancy Morejón Nancy Morejón (born August 7, 1944 in Havana) is a Cuban poet, critic, teacher, and essayist. She was a recipient of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award and has been called "the best known and most widely translated woman poet of post ...
, and
Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
. In 1997, OWAA organized at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
"the first major international conference devoted to the evaluation and celebration of literature from around the world by women of African descent". Cortez directed ''Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future'' (1999), which documented panels, readings and performances held during that conference. She was also organizer of ''Slave Routes: The Long Memory'' (2000) and ''Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization'' (2004), both international conferences held at New York University. Until shortly before her death, Cortez had been planning an OWAA international symposium of women writers to be held in
Accra, Ghana Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population ...
. ''Yari Yari Ntoaso: Continuing the Dialogue'' took place as scheduled, in her honour, May 16–19, 2013.


Tributes

A memorial celebration of her life, organised by her family on February 6, 2013, at the
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...
Foundation Building, included tributes by
Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous b ...
,
Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...
,
Robin Kelley Robin Davis Gibran Kelley (born March 14, 1962) is an American historian and academic, who is the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). From 2006 to 2011, he was Professor of American Stu ...
, Genna Rae McNeil,
Quincy Troupe Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr. (born July 22, 1939) is an American poet, editor, journalist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California. He is best known as the biographer of Miles Davis, the jazz musi ...
,
Steve Dalachinsky Steven Donald Dalachinsky (September 29, 1946 – September 16, 2019) was an American downtown New York City poet, active in the music, art, and free jazz scenes. He wrote poetry for most of his life and read frequently at Michael Dorf's club the ...
, George Campbell Jr., Eugene Redmond,
Rashidah Ismaili Rashidah Ismaili, also known as Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr (born 1941),"Rashidah Ismaili"
, and
Manthia Diawara Manthia Diawara (born December 19, 1953) is a Malian writer, filmmaker, cultural theorist, scholar, and art historian. He holds the title of University Professor at New York University (NYU), where he is Director of the Institute of Afro-America ...
, as well as musical contributions by
Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...
,
T. K. Blue Eugene Rhynie (born February 7, 1953),TK Blue Artist Profile
Motéma Music.
known professionally as T. ...
and The Firespitters. The Spring 2013 issue of ''
The Black Scholar ''The Black Scholar'' (''TBS'') is a journal founded in California, in 1969, by Robert Chrisman, Nathan Hare, and Allan Ross. It is the third oldest Black studies journal in the US, after the NAACP’s ''The Crisis'' (founded in 1910) and the ' ...
'' (Vol. 43, No. 1/2) was dedicated to Cortez's memory and work. In
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, on July 19, 2013, a tribute event was held, with featured artists including
John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949) is a Guyanese-born British playwright, poet and children's writer. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
,
Jean "Binta" Breeze Jean "Binta" Breeze MBE (11 March 1956 – 4 August 2021)Sheri Elaine Metzger"Jean "Binta" Breeze 1956–" Contemporary Black Biography, 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 4 March 2013. was a Jamaican dub poet and storyteller, acknowledged as the first ...
, Denardo Coleman, Zena Edwards,
Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...
,
Grace Nichols Grace Nichols (born 1950) is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, ''I is a Long-Memoried Woman'' (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In Decemb ...
, Deirdre Pascall,
Keith Waithe Keith Waithe is a Guyana-born musician, composer and teacher who has been based in the United Kingdom since 1977.Mark McGowan"Keith Waithe: making the flute talk" ''Stabroek News'', 6 September 2008. He is best known as a flautist and founder of ...
,
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...
, and others.


Selected awards

* 1970, Rockefeller Foundation grant * 1980,
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 ''Mouth on Paper'' * 1987,
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 ...
* 1994,
Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and leader of the civil rights movement. She was the vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, ...
Award * 1996, Arts International Award * International African Festival Award * 2001,
Langston Hughes Medal The Langston Hughes Medal is awarded to highly distinguished writers from throughout the African diaspora for their impressive works of poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography and critical essays that help to celebrate the memory and tradition of La ...
*
New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...


Poetry books

* 52 pp. * 44pp. * 64pp. * 63pp. * 47pp. * With
Ted Joans Theodore Joans (July 4, 1928 – April 25, 2003) was an American beatnik, surrealist, painter, filmmaker, collageist, jazz poet and jazz trumpeter who spent long periods of time in Paris while also traveling through Africa. His complex body of w ...
, ''Merveilleux Coup de Foudre''
982 Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Taranto, and proceeds along the gulf coas ...
in French, translated by Ms. Ila Errus and M. Sila Errus, Paris: Handshake Editions. * 112pp. UK: Pluto, 1985, * 64pp. * 32pp. * 122pp. * 115pp. * 104pp. * 131pp. * ''Firespitter: The Collected Poems of Jayne Cortez'' (Nightboat Books, 2025).


Discography

* ''Celebrations & Solitudes: The Poetry of Jayne Cortez & Richard Davis, Bassist'' (
Strata-East Strata-East Records is an American record company and label specialising in jazz founded in 1971 by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell with the release of their first recording '' Music Inc.'' The label released over 50 albums in the 1970s. Man ...
, 1974) * ''Unsubmissive Blues'' (Bola Press, 1979) * ''Poets Read their Contemporary Poetry: Before Columbus Foundation'' (
Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...
, 1980) * ''Life is a Killer'' (compilation on
Giorno Poetry Systems Founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno in 1965, Giorno Poetry Systems is a non-profit organization where artists, poets, and musicians present the work of other artists, poets, and musicians. History In the early 1960s, young New York ...
, 1982) * ''There It Is'' (Bola Press, 1982) * ''Maintain Control'' (Bola Press, 1986) * ''Everywhere Drums'' (Bola Press, 1990) * ''Poetry & Music: Women in (E)Motion Festival'' (Tradition & Moderne Musikproducktion, Germany, 1992) * ''Cheerful & Optimistic'' (Bola Press, 1994) * ''Taking the Blues Back Home'' ( Harmolodic/
Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...
, 1996) * ''Borders of Disorderly Time'' (Bola Press, 2002) * ''Find Your Own Voice: Poetry and Music, 1982–2003'' (Bola Press, 2004) * ''As If You Knew'' (Bola Press, 2011)


Videos

* ''Tribeca'' TV Series (David J. Burke, 1993) * ''I'm Gonna Shake'' (Sanctuary TV, 2010) * ''She Got He Got'' (Sanctuary TV, 2010) * ''Find Your Own Voice'' (Sanctuary TV, 2010)


Filmography

* '' Poetry in Motion'' (1982) * ''Ornette: Made in America'' (1985) * ''Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future'' (1999) * ''Femmes du Jazz/Women in Jazz'' (2000)


References


Critical reviews, interviews, and scholarly references

* Anderson III, T. J. ''Notes to Make the Sound Come Right: Four Innovators of Jazz Poetry''. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2004. * Benston, Kimberly W. "Renovating blackness: Remembrance and revolution in the Coltrane Poem". ''Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism''. London: Routledge, 2000. * Bolden, Tony. ''Afro-blue: Improvisations in African American Poetry and Culture''. Urbana: Illinois University Press, 2004. * Boyd, Herb. "Everywhere Drums", ''The Black Scholar''. 21.4 (1991): 41. * Brown, Kimberly N. "Return to the Flesh: The Revolutionary Ideology behind the Poetry of Jayne Cortez". ''Writing the Black Revolutionary Diva: Women's Subjectivity and the Decolonizing Text''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. * Clarke, Cheryl. ''"After Mecca": Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement''. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2005. * Feinstein, Sascha. ''Ask Me Now: Conversations on Jazz & Literature''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. * Feinstein, Sascha. ''Jazz Poetry: From the 1920s to the Present''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. * Ford, Karen. "On Cortez's Poetry"
Modern American Poetry.
* Iannapollo, Robert. "Jayne Cortez/Firespitters, Cheerful & Optimistic, Bola 9401", ''Cadence''. 21.2 (1995): 96–97. * Jones, Meta D. E. ''The Muse Is Music: Jazz Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to Spoken Word''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011. * Kingan, Renee M. Taking It Out!': Jayne Cortez's Collaborations with the Firespitters", in Thompson, Gordon. ''Black Music, Black Poetry: Blues and Jazz's Impact on African American Versification''. London: Ashgate, 2014. * Lavazzi, Tom. "Echoes of DuBois: The Crisis Writings and Jayne Cortez’s Earlier Poetry". Blevins, Jacob. ''Dialogism and Lyric Self-Fashioning: Bakhtin and the Voices of a Genre''. Selinsgrove, Pa: Susquehanna University Press, 2008. * McCarthy, Albert J. "Jazz and Poetry", ''Jazz Monthly''. 3.10 (December 1957): 9–10. * Melhem, D. H. "A MELUS Profile and Interview: Jayne Cortez", ''MELUS''. 21.1 (1996): 71–79. * Meehan, Kevin. "Red Pepper Poetry: Jayne Cortez and Cross-Cultural Saturation", ''People Get Ready: African American and Caribbean Cultural Exchange''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009. * Melhem, D. H. ''Heroism in the New Black Poetry: Introductions and Interviews''. Lexington: Kentucky University Press, 1990. * Nielsen, Aldon Lynn. ''Integral Music: Languages of African American Innovation''. Tuscaloosa: Alabama University Press, 2004. * Pareles, Jon. "Setting Agitprop Poetry To the Beat of Current Jazz", ''The New York Times'' March 25, 1991: C14. * Rambsy, Howard. ''The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011. * Richmond, Norman. "Jayne Cortez: 'It's What We've Been Doing All Our Lives, ''Fuse''. 6.1–2 (1982): 73–76. * Ruffin, Kimberly N. "Dispatch from a Diaspora's Daughter: an Interview with Jayne Cortez", ''Abafazi''. 13.1 (2005): 13–16. * Ruffin, Kimberly N. Freedom of Expression' Meet Jayne Cortez", ''Footsteps''. 7.2 (2005): 27. * Ryan, Jennifer D. "Talk to Me: Ecofeminist Disruptions in the Jazz Poetry of Jayne Cortez", ''Post-Jazz Poetics: A Social History''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. * Sakolsky, Ron. "Firespitter: Jayne Cortez and the Poetics of Diasporic Resistance", '' LiP Magazine'', November 5, 2004. *
Wilmer, Val Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Life ...
. "Jayne Cortez: the Unsubmissive Blues", ''CODA''. 230 (1990): 16–19. * Wilson, John S. "Music: Poetry and Jazz", ''The New York Times''. June 9, 1970: 36. * Woessner, Warren. "Unsubmissive Blues", ''Small Press Review''. 15.3 (1981). * Woods, Luke. "Cortez McAndless Distinguished Professor Poet to grace EMU with her Lyrical Stylings", ''Echo Online''.


External links


Jayne Cortez
at poets.org, Academy of American Poets