Russell Atkins

Russell Atkins (February 25, 1926 – August 15, 2024) was an American poet, playwright and composer from Cleveland, Ohio, known primarily for his contributions to ''avant garde'' poetry. He was born Russell Phillip Kelly, on February 25, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Perry Kelly and Sarah Harris, but was adopted by three women named Mamie Belle Atkins, Willie Mae Allen and their mother. He was raised on Cleveland's east side and resided in the family home until 2010. He later moved to an assisted living facility and then to a nursing home named Algart Healthcare on the city's west side until his death. Atkins, R., ''Here in The,'' Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University Poetry Center (1976).

Biography

Trained as a musician and visual artist, Atkins studied at Cleveland College, Cleveland Music School Settlement, Cleveland Institute of Music, Karamu House, and Cleveland School of Art.Fleming, Robert, (2013)
"Russell Atkins: On the Life & Work of an American Master" (review)
AALBC. Retrieved 3 December 2014.

His plays ''The Abortionist'' and ''The Corpse'' debuted in 1954. Following this, he founded ''Free Lance, A Magazine of Poetry and Prose'' in 1950 with his friend, Adelaide Simon, with the first issue containing an introduction by Langston Hughes.Joyce, D. F. (1991), "Free Lance Press", ''Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses, 1817-1990'', pp. 112-115. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT. It attracted writers from all over the world, leading the now-defunct ''Black World'' to call it "the only Black literary magazine of national importance in existence." In 1959 Free Lance Press began publishing books, with a volume of poetry from Conrad Kent Rivers. ''Free Lance'' was under Atkins leadership for more than two decades, and allowed Atkins to correspond with writers from across the country. K. Prufer (ed.), ''Russell Atkins: On the life and work of an American master''. Warrensburg, Mo.: Pleiades Press (2013).

In 2017 the City of Cleveland granted a portion of Grand Avenue the supplementary name "Russell Atkins Way" in his honor.

Atkins died on August 15, 2024, at the age of 98.

Works

Atkins was one of the first Concrete poets in the United States, arranging the words on the page to enhance poems' meaning. He was also an innovator in poetic drama. Much of Atkins' work, including the verse drama ''The Abortionist'', was published in issues of ''The Free Lance'' a literary journal published by Free Lance Press of Cleveland, Ohio.

Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten introduced Atkins' work to magazines. Hughes read his poems at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, and Marrianne Moore read them on the radio in 1951.

Atkins' books include ''Phenomena'' (1961), ''Objects'' (1963), ''Heretofore'' (1968), ''Maleficum'' (1971), ''Objects 2'' (1973) and ''Here in The'' (1976), which is Atkins' only full-length poetry collection.

Critical reception

Despite being published almost forty years ago and being long out of print, ''Here in The'' continues to attract critical attention. In 2014 the poet Joshua Ware, who teaches at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio wrote that "Atkins creates a singular, Cleveland-based beauty in his language and the sounds it produces." And "the poet surveys the city, its residents, and surroundings, noting how even traditionally beatific images, such as a sunset, can transform into something less gorgeous in the crumbling urban cityscapes."

Patrick James Dunagan wrote: "Both prolific and diverse, Russell Atkins’ literary output crosses over traditional divisions of genre, style, and form."

In 2013 the Pleiades Press at the University of Missouri published a collection entitled ''Russell Atkins: On the Life and Work of an American Master'',Clevelandpoetics
Russell Atkins
Retrieved December 3, 2014. and in October 2014 several of Atkins’ friends organized a reading and celebration of the poet's work at the East Cleveland Public Library in East Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2017 he was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize for his lifetime achievement.

In 2019, ''World'd Too Much: The Selected Poetry of Russell Atkins'', edited by Kevin Prufer and Robert E. McDonough, was published by the Cleveland State University Poetry Center.

The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University holds the Russell Atkins collection, 1969–1997.

References

External links

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Papers
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Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Russell
1926 births
2024 deaths
American modernist poets
Poets from Ohio
African-American dramatists and playwrights
African-American poets
American male poets
20th-century African-American writers
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century American classical composers
21st-century American classical composers
African-American classical composers
African-American male classical composers
African-American opera composers
American opera composers
American male opera composers
21st-century African-American musicians
Writers from Cleveland
20th-century American poets
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American poets
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
21st-century American male writers
American male dramatists and playwrights