Shirley LeFlore (1940 - 2019) was one of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

' most influential performance art

poets 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 ...

.Music and Musicians of the Black Artists' Group in St. Louis
/ref> Before she became a board member for Word In Motion, she split her time between performances in New York City and teaching creative writing at the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. Located on the former grounds of Bel ...

. One of the premiere women's voices in St. Louis, Shirley has been a part of many underground activists poetry organizations including the

Black Artists' Group The Black Artists Group (BAG) was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1968 to 1972. BAG is known for the convergence of free jazz and experimental theater. Members Members included saxophonists Julius ...

and Harmony. Brassbones and Rainbows, a collection of her work, is available from 2-Leaf Press. https://2leafpress.org/online/team/shirley-bradley-leflore/ Leflore was also a recipient of the Warrior Poet Award.

References

External links

LeFlore's Readings
Writers from St. Louis University of Missouri–St. Louis people Living people African-American poets 21st-century African-American people 1940 births {{US-poet-stub