Baraka, Amiri, 1934-2014

Interview Location:

New Haven, CT

Scope and Contents:

The Amiri Baraka Papers contains poetry, pamphlet publications, scripts, interviews, photographs, correspondence, and posters of work written or edited by Amiri Baraka, both under the name Amiri Baraka as well as LeRoi Jones. This material mostly documents his professional work between 1965 and 1982, and reflects mostly his work as a playright and poet.

Abstract: The collection contains correspondence, research and teaching files, and personal papers documenting the life of American academic Charles T. Davis. Correspondents feature literary scholars and African-American artists, writers, and cultural figures, including Doris Alexander, Anthony Appiah, Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, John Blassingame, Michel Fabre, Leon Forrest, Athol Fugard, Henry Louis Gates, Leon Higginbotham, Ishmael Reed, Jean Toomer, and others. Correspondents also include...

Scope and Contents:

Seven essays, typescript corrected and signed, included in the larger collection entitled Raise, Race, Rays, Raze: Essays Since 1965 (New York: Random House, 1971).

Abstract: The Anselm Hollo Papers contains correspondence, subject files, writings, teaching files, personal and professional papers, artwork, printed materials, computer media, and audiovisual media by or relating to Anselm Hollo. Notable correspondents include John Ashbery, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ted Berrigan, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Grenier, Langston Hughes, Gerrit Lansing, Ron Padgett, and John Taggart. Writings contain Hollo's translations of works by Ginsberg, Pentti Saarikoski, Dylan...

Abstract: The James Weldon Johnson Collection Files contain manuscript correspondence, literary works and other documents relating to African Americans, dating from 1809 to 1979. The collection contains several letters to James Weldon Johnson from aspiring poets asking for feedback on their writing. Correspondence sent to Langston Hughes, Harold Jackman, Grace Nail Johnson, and Carl Van Vechten is also prominent in the collection. The collection includes broadway actress Rose McClendon's scripts used...

Scope and Contents:

The bulk of the papers relate to theater and film productions of Dutchman by Amiri Baraka, for which Gene Persson served as a producer, including correspondence, scripts, production materials, legal materials, promotional materials, financial records, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The papers also include additional writings and other materials by or about Amiri Baraka.