Kathleen Collins (March 18, 1942 – September 18, 1988) (also known as Kathleen Conwell, Kathleen Conwell Collins or Kathleen Collins Prettyman) was an African-American poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator from

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Losing Ground'' (1982)—furthered the range of Black women's films. Although ''Losing Ground'' was denied large-scale exhibition, it was among the first films created by a Black woman deliberately designed to tell a story intended for popular consumption, with a feature-length narrative structure. Collins thus paved the way for Julie Dash's ''

Daughters of the Dust ''Daughters of the Dust'' is a 1991 independent film written, directed and produced by Julie Dash and is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States.Michel, Martin (November 20, 2016)" ...

'' (1991) to become the first feature-length narrative film created by a Black woman to be placed in commercial distribution. Influenced by

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highlig ...

, she wrote about "African Americans as human subjects and not as mere race subjects" mphasis in the original

Background

Born to Loretta (''née'' Pierce) and Frank Conwell and raised in Jersey City, Kathleen, at the age of 15,

won first prize at an annual poetry reading contest at Rutgers Newark College of Arts and Sciences for her rendition of
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
's 'A Child Goes Forth' and 'I Learned My Lesson Complete'. An article in the March 3, 1958 ''
Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' is a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton a ...
'' reported that in addition to working as assistant editor of the Lincoln High School's publication the ''Leader'', Conwell was on the editorial staff of the school yearbook, the ''Quill''; a member of the National Honors Society; and a past secretary of the Student Council."About"
Kathleen Collins website.

After graduating from high school in 1959, Collins went to

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

, where she received a BA in philosophy and religion in 1963. In 1962, after her campus was visited by two leaders of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

(SNCC), she became active in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, canvassing in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for black residents to register to vote; as a result, she was arrested twice while working with the

Albany Movement The Albany Movement was a desegregation and voters' rights coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. This movement was founded by local black leaders and ministers, as well as members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commi ...

. After she graduated from Skidmore, she taught high-school French in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

, while attending graduate school at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

at night. In 1965, she won a scholarship to study in France at

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

, where, in 1966, she obtained an MA in French literature and cinema.

Career

Collins joined the faculty of City College at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

and became a professor of film history and screenwriting, where cinematographer Ronald K Gray encouraged her to go ahead with a screenplay she had adapted from a Henry Roth short story. That film became ''The Cruz Brothers and Mrs. Malloy'', a short film (under one hour) which eventually won First Prize at the

Sinking Creek Film Festival Sinking may refer to: * Sinking of a ship; see shipwrecking * Being underwater, submerged * Sinking (album), ''Sinking'' (album), a 1996 studio album by The Aloof * Sinking (behavior), the act of pouring out champagne in the sink * Sinking (metalw ...

. This was followed in 1982 by '' Losing Ground'' (starring Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, and

Duane Jones Duane L. Jones (April 11, 1937July 22, 1988) was an American actor and theatre director, best known for his lead role as Ben in the 1968 horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. He was later director of the Maguire Theater at the State Universi ...

), which she wrote and directed. '' Losing Ground'' was among the first feature-length drama directed by a black American woman, preceded by

Jessie Maple Jessie Maple is an American cinematographer and film director most noted as a pioneer for the civil rights of African-Americans and women in the film industry. Her 1981 film ''Will'' was one of the first feature-length dramatic films created b ...

's 1981 film ''Will''. ''Losing Ground'' won First Prize at the Figueroa International Film Festival in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, garnering much international acclaim, but was not picked up for distribution at the time. Both of Collins' films were shot in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

, and are currently distributed by

Milestone Films Milestone Film and Video is an independent film distribution company, founded in 1990 in the United States by Dennis Doros and Amy Heller. The company researches and distributes cinematographic material from around the world, including silent film, ...

. Collins wrote many other plays and screenplays, but her two most well-known theatrical plays are ''In the Midnight Hour'' (1981) and ''The Brothers'' (1982), both of which are available through

Samuel French Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French foun ...

. Themes frequently explored in her work are issues of marital malaise, male dominance and impotence, freedom of expression and intellectual pursuit, and her protagonists are cited as "typically self-reflective women who move from a state of subjugation to empowerment."

Posthumous accomplishments

On Collins's abrupt death in 1988, the bulk of her work, most of it unpublished, was left to her daughter, Nina Collins, who in 2006 began to sift through her mother's enormous archive and began working to have it published, restored and reissued. In 2015 ''

A Public Space ''A Public Space'' is a nonprofit triquarterly English-language literary magazine based in Brooklyn, New York. First published in April 2006, ''A Public Space'' publishes fiction, poetry, essays and art. The magazine's Focus portfolios have exam ...

'' posthumously published Collins's short story "Interiors", a fictionalized account of her divorce from her first husband. Collins's 1982 ''Losing Ground'' was restored and reissued in 2015. The film, which had only been seen at film festivals in 1982/83, had its first theatrical release in 2015 at Film Society of Lincoln Center, opening the series "Tell it like it is: Black Independents in New York, 1968-1986". It would later be described in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' as "the great rediscovery of 2015," and as being "rediscovered and restored to its rightful place in the canon of nineteen-eighties independent film." ''Losing Ground'' and ''The Cruz Brothers and Mrs. Malloy'' were released together on two-disc sets (DVD or Blu-ray) by Milestone in April 2016. In December 2016, a collection of Collins's short stories was published under HarperCollins'

Ecco Ecco or ECCO may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Ecco the Dolphin'' (series), a series of action-adventure science fiction video games ** ''Ecco the Dolphin'', a 1992 video game * Ecco (''Gotham''), a TV series character Organizations ...

imprint under the title '' Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?'' The title story was published by ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'' in July 2016. These acclaimed stories were written in the 1970s and mined some of the same intimate territory of Black women's lives, loves, and losses as '' Losing Ground.'' Prior to its release, it was listed as one of the most anticipated books of the fall of 2016 by the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

, New York,

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Lit Hub Literary Hub is a daily literary website that launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter. Cont ...

,'' and ''

The Millions ''The Millions'' is an online literary magazine created by C. Max Magee in 2003. It contains articles about literary topics and book reviews. ''The Millions'' has several regular contributors as well as frequent guest appearances by literary not ...

.'' The collection received starred reviews in ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' and was named one of the best books of 2016 by outlets that included ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

,''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'', ''

, and''

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

. In February 2019, Nina Collins compiled her mother's short stories, as well as her diary entries, scripts, and screenplays into '' Notes From a Black Woman’s Diary''. In May 2021, a multidisciplinary artist group Afrofemononomy (whose members include

Eisa Davis Eisa Davis (born May 5, 1971) is an American playwright, actress and singer-songwriter. She is most commonly known for her work as a playwright, writing shows such as ''Bulrusher'' and ''Angela's Mixtape'' as well as through her acting work, where ...

) produced and performed a series of Collins' one act plays, including "Begin the Beguine,” “The Healing,” “The Reading,” and “Remembrance” at outdoor locations in New York City.

Personal life

Collins was married, but divorced in 1975. She had two children from her marriage: Nina Lorez Collins and Emilio Collins. She was married a second time, to Alfred Prettyman. Collins died from breast cancer in 1988 at the age of 46, at the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

in New York City.

References

External links

Kathleen Collins
official website. * * Ashley Clark
"Making ground: remembering Kathleen Collins"
''Sight & Sound'', May 23, 2016. * Rebecca Williams

Confessions of a Bathrobe Blogger, January 30, 2015.
Were Here JC: Kathleen Collins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Kathleen African-American dramatists and playwrights African-American screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) African-American film directors African-American educators 20th-century American educators 1942 births 1988 deaths Skidmore College alumni University of Paris alumni City University of New York faculty Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey Womanists American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers Film directors from New Jersey Screenwriters from New Jersey 20th-century American screenwriters American women academics American expatriates in France 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers Lincoln High School (New Jersey) alumni