Tyehimba Jess (born 1965 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

) is an American

poet 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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

. His book '' Olio'' received the 2017

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

Biography

Early life

Tyehimba Jess was born Jesse S. Goodwin. He grew up in Detroit, where his father worked in that city's Department of Health. His father later became the first vice president of Detroit's chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP). Jess's mother was a teacher and nurse, who founded a nursing school at Wayne County Community College in 1972. According to Jess, he started writing poetry at age 16. Within just a few years, when he was 18, he had won second prize for poetry at an NAACP academic competition. He graduated from high school in 1984. Next, he enrolled at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where he intended to be an English major and pursue his poetry writing. However, he soon abandoned this as an option, and dropped out of the university in 1987. During this time, to support himself, Jess worked as an intern at a bank, as a community organizer, and as substitute teacher in the public school system in Chicago. In 1989, he returned to the

, and switched his major to Public Policy. Around the same time, he began to take classes at nearby

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois ...

(UIC) with the poet and scholar Sterling D. Plumpp, who became a mentor, and he realized that his real passion was for poetry. Plumpp's classes focused on literary figures from the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and '70s, which inspired him to start writing again. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1991, with a BA degree in Public Policy. He later pursued a MFA degree at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, which he received in 2004.

Career

As of 2017, Jess teaches poetry and fiction as an associate professor of English at the

College of Staten Island The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studie ...

of the City University of New York. He's a faculty member of The Watering Hole Organization, and is also the faculty adviser for ''Caesura'', the college's literary arts magazine. Jess's first book of poetry, ''leadbelly'' (Wave Books, 2005), was chosen by Brigit Pegeen Kelly as a winner in the 2004

National Poetry Series The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program. Every year since 1979, the National Poetry Series has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry. Manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, judged and cho ...

competition. '' Library Journal'' and '' Black Issues Book Review'' both named it one of the "Best Poetry Books of 2005". In April 2016, Jess released his second full-length poetry collection, titled ''Olio.'' This work has been described as "part fact, part fiction….sonnet, song and narrative to examine the lives of mostly unrecorded AfricanAmerican performers…." In his book he writes some poems in reference to Edmonia Lewis, John William Boone, Henry Box Brown,

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American '' a cappella'' ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditio ...

Ernest Hogan Ernest Hogan (born Ernest Reuben Crowdus; 1865 – May 20, 1909) was the first African-American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show (''The Oyster Man'' in 1907) and helped to popularize the musical genre of ragtime. A native of ...

, Sissieretta Jones, Scott Joplin,

Millie and Christine McKoy Millie and Christine McKoy (also spelled ''McCoy''; July 11, 1851 – October 8, 1912) were African-American pygopagus conjoined twins who went by the stage names "The Carolina Twins", "The Two-Headed Nightingale" and "The Eighth Wonder of the Wor ...

, Booker T. Washington,

Blind Tom Wiggins Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins (May 25, 1849June 14, 1908) was an American pianist and composer. He had numerous original compositions published and had a lengthy and largely successful performing career throughout the United States. During the 19th ...

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being ...

and

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters * George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...

. Jess's work has appeared in ''Soul Fires: Young Black Men on Love and Violence'', ''Obsidian III: Literature in the African Diaspora'', ''Power Lines: Ten Years of Poetry from Chicago's Guild Complex'', and ''Slam: The Art of Performance Poetry''.

Works

Inspiration

Jess's inspiration for writing stems from his drive to express history through expression and performance.

Poetry

"When I Speak of Blues Be Clear"
''Cave Canem'' * *

''Poetry Foundation''

''Perihelion'' * * '' Olio''. Wave Books. 2016. .

Anthologies

*''Soulfires: Young Black Men in Love and Violence'' (1996). , *''Slam: The Competitive Art of Perform,ance Poetry'' (2000). , *''Dark Matter 2: Reading the Bones'' (2004). ,

Non-fiction

*
"Ancestral Wealth – The Sacred Black Masculine in My Life"
''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

'', February 5, 2021.

Awards

* 2000: Duncan YMCA Writer's Voice Fellow * Illinois Arts Council Artist Roster * 2000: Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship * 2001: Chicago Sun Times Poetry Award. * 2001: Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Awards * 2001–2002: Ragdale Fellow * 2004:

* 2004: NEA grant * 2006: Whiting Award * 2007: Lannan residency * 2017: Pulitzer Prize for Poetry * 2017: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

References

External links

Tyehimba Jess's Wave Books author page"Tyehimba Jess"
''Fishouse''

''The Book of Voices''
"NINE LIVES OF CHICAGO POETRY: TYEHIMBA JESS"
''Chicago Poetry''
Poems by Tyehimba Jess
at ''Nashville Review''
Profile
at The Whiting Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Jess, Tyehimba 1965 births Living people People from Staten Island American male poets New York University alumni University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Yale University faculty University of Chicago alumni Writers from Detroit Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners 21st-century American poets Poets from Michigan Poets from New York (state) College of Staten Island faculty 21st-century American male writers