's Emperor Gaozong (1107–1187) of Song Dynasty; fan mounted as album leaf on silk, four columns in cursive script.]]

Poetry (from the Latin poeta, a poet) is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns, lyrics, or prose poetry. It is published in dedicated magazines (the longest established being Poetry and Oxford Poetry), individual collections and wider anthologies.

Poetry and discussions of it have a long history. Early attempts to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song, and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition, verse form and rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectively informative, prosaic forms of writing, such as manifestos, biographies, essays, and novels . From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a fundamental creative act using language.

Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to suggest alternative meanings in the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony, and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor, simile, and metonymy create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.

Some forms of poetry are specific to particular cultures and genres, responding to the characteristics of the language in which the poet writes. While readers accustomed to identifying poetry with Dante, Goethe, Mickiewicz and Rumi may think of it as being written in lines based upon rhyme and regular meter, there are traditions, such as Biblical poetry, that use other approaches to achieve rhythm and euphony. Much of modern British and American poetry is to some extent a critique of poetic tradition, playing with and testing (among other things) the principle of euphony itself, to the extent that sometimes it deliberately does not rhyme or keep to set rhythms at all. In today's globalized world poets often borrow styles, techniques and forms from diverse cultures and languages.

History

tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh in Akkadian, circa 2nd millennium BC]] Poetry as an art form may predate literacy. Many ancient works, from the Indian Vedas (1700–1200 BC) and Zoroaster's Gathas (1200-900 BC) to the Odyssey (800–675 BC), appear to have been composed in poetic form to aid memorization and oral transmission, in prehistoric and ancient societies. Poetry appears among the earliest records of most literate cultures, with poetic fragments found on early monoliths, runestones, and stelae.

The oldest surviving epic poem is the Epic of Gilgamesh, from the 3rd millennium BC in Sumer (in Mesopotamia, now Iraq), which was written in cuneiform script on clay tablets and, later, papyrus. Other ancient epic poetry includes the Greek epics Iliad and Odyssey, the Old Iranian books the Gathic Avesta and Yasna, the Roman national epic, Virgil's Aeneid, and the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The efforts of ancient thinkers to determine what makes poetry distinctive as a form, and what distinguishes good poetry from bad, resulted in "poetics"—the study of the aesthetics of poetry. Some ancient societies, such as the Chinese through the Shi Jing, one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, developed canons of poetic works that had ritual as well as aesthetic importance. More recently, thinkers have struggled to find a definition that could encompass formal differences as great as those between Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi, as well as differences in context spanning Tanakh religious poetry, love poetry, and rap.

can be critical to poetics and to the development of poetic genres and forms. Poetry that records historic events in epics, such as Gilgamesh or Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, will necessarily be lengthy and narrative, while poetry used for liturgical purposes (hymns, psalms, suras, and hadiths) is likely to have an inspirational tone, whereas elegy and tragedy are meant to evoke deep emotional responses. Other contexts include Gregorian chants, formal or diplomatic speech, political rhetoric and invective, light-hearted nursery and nonsense rhymes, and even medical texts.

The Polish historian of aesthetics, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, in a paper on "The Concept of Poetry," traces the evolution of what is in fact two concepts of poetry. Tatarkiewicz points out that the term is applied to two distinct things that, as the poet Paul Valéry observed, "at a certain point find union. Poetry [...] is an art based on language. But poetry also has a more general meaning [...] that is difficult to define because it is less determinate: poetry expresses a certain state of mind."

Western traditions

Classical thinkers employed classification as a way to define and assess the quality of poetry. Notably, the existing fragments of Aristotle's Poetics describe three genres of poetry—the epic, the comic, and the tragic—and develop rules to distinguish the highest-quality poetry in each genre, based on the underlying purposes of the genre. Later aestheticians identified three major genres: epic poetry, lyric poetry, and dramatic poetry, treating comedy and tragedy as subgenres of dramatic poetry.

Aristotle's work was influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, as well as in Europe during the Renaissance. Later poets and aestheticians often distinguished poetry from, and defined it in opposition to prose, which was generally understood as writing with a proclivity to logical explication and a linear narrative structure.

This does not imply that poetry is illogical or lacks narration, but rather that poetry is an attempt to render the beautiful or sublime without the burden of engaging the logical or narrative thought process. English Romantic poet John Keats termed this escape from logic, "Negative Capability". This "romantic" approach views form as a key element of successful poetry because form is abstract and distinct from the underlying notional logic. This approach remained influential into the 20th century.

During this period, there was also substantially more interaction among the various poetic traditions, in part due to the spread of European colonialism and the attendant rise in global trade. In addition to a boom in translation, during the Romantic period numerous ancient works were rediscovered.

20th-century disputes

Some 20th-century literary theorists, relying less on the opposition of prose and poetry, focused on the poet as simply one who creates using language, and poetry as what the poet creates. The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon, and some modernist poets essentially do not distinguish between the creation of a poem with words, and creative acts in other media such as carpentry. Yet other modernists challenge the very attempt to define poetry as misguided, as when Archibald MacLeish concludes his paradoxical poem, "Ars Poetica", with the lines: "A poem should not mean / but be." See also Wallace Stevens's comparison of poetry to music in "To the One of Fictive Music", poetry "musing the obscure" so as to "give motion to perfection more serene" than any other music.

Disputes over the definition of poetry, and over poetry's distinction from other genres of literature, have been inextricably intertwined with the debate over the role of poetic form. The rejection of traditional forms and structures for poetry that began in the first half of the 20th century coincided with a questioning of the purpose and meaning of traditional definitions of poetry and of distinctions between poetry and prose, particularly given examples of poetic prose and prosaic poetry. Numerous modernist poets have written in non-traditional forms or in what traditionally would have been considered prose, although their writing was generally infused with poetic diction and often with rhythm and tone established by non-metrical means. While there was a substantial formalist reaction within the modernist schools to the breakdown of structure, this reaction focused as much on the development of new formal structures and syntheses as on the revival of older forms and structures.

More recently, postmodernism has fully embraced MacLeish's concept and come to regard the boundaries between prose and poetry, and also among genres of poetry, as having meaning only as cultural artifacts. Postmodernism goes beyond modernism's emphasis on the creative role of the poet, to emphasize the role of the reader of a text (Hermeneutics), and to highlight the complex cultural web within which a poem is read. Today, throughout the world, poetry often incorporates poetic form and diction from other cultures and from the past, further confounding attempts at definition and classification that were once sensible within a tradition such as the Western canon.

Elements

Prosody

Prosody is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation of a poem. Rhythm and meter, although closely related, should be distinguished. Meter is the definitive pattern established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter), while rhythm is the actual sound that results from a line of poetry. Thus, the meter of a line may be described as being "iambic", but a full description of the rhythm would require noting where the language causes one to pause or accelerate and how the meter interacts with other elements of the language. Prosody also may be used more specifically to refer to the scanning of poetic lines to show meter.

Rhythm

The methods for creating poetic rhythm vary across languages and between poetic traditions. Languages are often described as having timing set primarily by accents, syllables, or moras, depending on how rhythm is established, though a language can be influenced by multiple approaches. Japanese is a mora-timed language. Syllable-timed languages include Latin, Catalan, French, Leonese, Galician and Spanish. English, Russian and, generally, German are stress-timed languages. Varying intonation also affects how rhythm is perceived. Languages also can rely on either pitch, such as in Vedic or ancient Greek, or tone. Tonal languages include Chinese, Vietnamese, Lithuanian, and most subsaharan languages.

Metrical rhythm generally involves precise arrangements of stresses or syllables into repeated patterns called feet within a line. In Modern English verse the pattern of stresses primarily differentiate feet, so rhythm based on meter in Modern English is most often founded on the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (alone or elided). In the classical languages, on the other hand, while the metrical units are similar, vowel length rather than stresses define the meter. Old English poetry used a metrical pattern involving varied numbers of syllables but a fixed number of strong stresses in each line.

The chief device of ancient Hebrew Biblical poetry, including many of the psalms, was parallelism, a rhetorical structure in which successive lines reflected each other in grammatical structure, sound structure, notional content, or all three. Parallelism lent itself to antiphonal or call-and-response performance, which could also be reinforced by intonation. Thus, Biblical poetry relies much less on metrical feet to create rhythm, but instead creates rhythm based on much larger sound units of lines, phrases and sentences. Some classical poetry forms, such as Venpa of the Tamil language, had rigid grammars (to the point that they could be expressed as a context-free grammar) which ensured a rhythm. In Chinese poetry, tones as well as stresses create rhythm. Classical Chinese poetics identifies four tones: the level tone, rising tone, departing tone, and entering tone. Note that other classifications may have as many as eight tones for Chinese and six for Vietnamese.

The formal patterns of meter used in Modern English verse to create rhythm no longer dominate contemporary English poetry. In the case of free verse, rhythm is often organized based on looser units of cadence rather than a regular meter. Robinson Jeffers, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams are three notable poets who reject the idea that regular accentual meter is critical to English poetry. Jeffers experimented with sprung rhythm as an alternative to accentual rhythm.

Meter

In the Western poetic tradition, meters are customarily grouped according to a characteristic metrical foot and the number of feet per line. Thus, "iambic pentameter" is a meter comprising five feet per line, in which the predominant kind of foot is the "iamb". This metric system originated in ancient Greek poetry, and was used by poets such as Pindar and Sappho, and by the great tragedians of Athens. Similarly, "dactylic hexameter", comprises six feet per line, of which the dominant kind of foot is the "dactyl". Dactylic hexameter was the traditional meter of Greek epic poetry, the earliest extant examples of which are the works of Homer and Hesiod. More recently, iambic pentameter and dactylic hexameter have been used by William Shakespeare and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, respectively.

Meter is often scanned based on the arrangement of "poetic feet" into lines. In English, each foot usually includes one syllable with a stress and one or two without a stress. In other languages, it may be a combination of the number of syllables and the length of the vowel that determines how the foot is parsed, where one syllable with a long vowel may be treated as the equivalent of two syllables with short vowels. For example, in ancient Greek poetry, meter is based solely on syllable duration rather than stress. In some languages, such as English, stressed syllables are typically pronounced with greater volume, greater length, and higher pitch, and are the basis for poetic meter. In ancient Greek, these attributes were independent of each other; long vowels and syllables including a vowel plus more than one consonant actually had longer duration, approximately double that of a short vowel, while pitch and stress (dictated by the accent) were not associated with duration and played no role in the meter. Thus, a dactylic hexameter line could be envisioned as a musical phrase with six measures, each of which contained either a half note followed by two quarter notes (i.e. a long syllable followed by two short syllables), or two half notes (i.e. two long syllables); thus, the substitution of two short syllables for one long syllable resulted in a measure of the same length. Such substitution in a stress language, such as English, would not result in the same rhythmic regularity. In Anglo-Saxon meter, the unit on which lines are built is a half-line containing two stresses rather than a foot. Scanning meter can often show the basic or fundamental pattern underlying a verse, but does not show the varying degrees of stress, as well as the differing pitches and lengths of syllables.

As an example of how a line of meter is defined, in English-language iambic pentameter, each line has five metrical feet, and each foot is an iamb, or an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. When a particular line is scanned, there may be variations upon the basic pattern of the meter; for example, the first foot of English iambic pentameters is quite often inverted, meaning that the stress falls on the first syllable. The generally accepted names for some of the most commonly used kinds of feet include: illustration to Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark", which is written mainly in anapestic tetrameter. "In the midst of the word he was trying to say / In the midst of his laughter and glee / He had softly and suddenly vanished away / For the snark was a boojum, you see."]]

iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

trochee – one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables

anapest – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable

spondee – two stressed syllables together

pyrrhic – two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)

The number of metrical feet in a line are described in Greek terminology as follows:

monometer - one foot

dimeter – two feet

trimeter – three feet

tetrameter – four feet

pentameter – five feet

hexameter – six feet

heptameter – seven feet

octameter – eight feet

There are a wide range of names for other types of feet, right up to a choriamb of four syllable metric foot with a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables and closing with a stressed syllable. The choriamb is derived from some ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Languages which utilize vowel length or intonation rather than or in addition to syllabic accents in determining meter, such as Ottoman Turkish or Vedic, often have concepts similar to the iamb and dactyl to describe common combinations of long and short sounds.

Each of these types of feet has a certain "feel," whether alone or in combination with other feet. The iamb, for example, is the most natural form of rhythm in the English language, and generally produces a subtle but stable verse. The dactyl, on the other hand, almost gallops along. And, in the manner of The Night Before Christmas or Dr. Seuss, the anapest is said to produce a light-hearted, comic feel.

There is debate over how useful a multiplicity of different "feet" is in describing meter. For example, Robert Pinsky has argued that while dactyls are important in classical verse, English dactylic verse uses dactyls very irregularly and can be better described based on patterns of iambs and anapests, feet which he considers natural to the language. Actual rhythm is significantly more complex than the basic scanned meter described above, and many scholars have sought to develop systems that would scan such complexity. Vladimir Nabokov noted that overlaid on top of the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse was a separate pattern of accents resulting from the natural pitch of the spoken words, and suggested that the term "scud" be used to distinguish an unaccented stress from an accented stress.

Metrical patterns

Different traditions and genres of poetry tend to use different meters, ranging from the Shakespearian iambic pentameter and the Homeric dactylic hexameter to the Anapestic tetrameter used in many nursery rhymes. However, a number of variations to the established meter are common, both to provide emphasis or attention to a given foot or line and to avoid boring repetition. For example, the stress in a foot may be inverted, a caesura (or pause) may be added (sometimes in place of a foot or stress), or the final foot in a line may be given a feminine ending to soften it or be replaced by a spondee to emphasize it and create a hard stop. Some patterns (such as iambic pentameter) tend to be fairly regular, while other patterns, such as dactylic hexameter, tend to be highly irregular. Regularity can vary between language. In addition, different patterns often develop distinctively in different languages, so that, for example, iambic tetrameter in Russian will generally reflect a regularity in the use of accents to reinforce the meter, which does not occur, or occurs to a much lesser extent, in English. Some common metrical patterns, with notable examples of poets and poems who use them, include: Iambic pentameter (John Milton, Paradise Lost) Dactylic hexameter (Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid; Ovid, Metamorphoses) Iambic tetrameter (Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"; Aleksandr Pushkin, Eugene Onegin) Trochaic octameter (Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven") Anapestic tetrameter (Lewis Carroll, "The Hunting of the Snark"; Lord Byron, Don Juan) Alexandrine (Jean Racine, Phèdre)

Rhyme, alliteration, assonance

epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse and paragraphs, not in lines or stanzas.]] Rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound. They may be used as an independent structural element in a poem, to reinforce rhythmic patterns, or as an ornamental element.

Rhyme consists of identical ("hard-rhyme") or similar ("soft-rhyme") sounds placed at the ends of lines or at predictable locations within lines ("internal rhyme"). Languages vary in the richness of their rhyming structures; Italian, for example, has a rich rhyming structure permitting maintenance of a limited set of rhymes throughout a lengthy poem. The richness results from word endings that follow regular forms. English, with its irregular word endings adopted from other languages, is less rich in rhyme. The degree of richness of a language's rhyming structures plays a substantial role in determining what poetic forms are commonly used in that language.

Alliteration and assonance played a key role in structuring early Germanic, Norse and Old English forms of poetry. The alliterative patterns of early Germanic poetry interweave meter and alliteration as a key part of their structure, so that the metrical pattern determines when the listener expects instances of alliteration to occur. This can be compared to an ornamental use of alliteration in most Modern European poetry, where alliterative patterns are not formal or carried through full stanzas. Alliteration is particularly useful in languages with less rich rhyming structures. Assonance, where the use of similar vowel sounds within a word rather than similar sounds at the beginning or end of a word, was widely used in skaldic poetry, but goes back to the Homeric epic. Because verbs carry much of the pitch in the English language, assonance can loosely evoke the tonal elements of Chinese poetry and so is useful in translating Chinese poetry. Consonance occurs where a consonant sound is repeated throughout a sentence without putting the sound only at the front of a word. Consonance provokes a more subtle effect than alliteration and so is less useful as a structural element.

In 'A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry' (Longmans, 1969) Geoffrey Leech identified six different types of sound patterns or rhyme forms. These are defined as six possible ways in which either one or two of the structural parts of the related words can vary. The unvarying parts are in upper case/bold. C symbolises a consonant cluster, not a single consonant, V a vowel.

Rhyming schemes

and Beatrice see God as a point of light surrounded by angels. A Doré illustration to the Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto 28.]] In many languages, including modern European languages and Arabic, poets use rhyme in set patterns as a structural element for specific poetic forms, such as ballads, sonnets and rhyming couplets. However, the use of structural rhyme is not universal even within the European tradition. Much modern poetry avoids traditional rhyme schemes. Classical Greek and Latin poetry did not use rhyme. Rhyme entered European poetry in the High Middle Ages, in part under the influence of the Arabic language in Al Andalus (modern Spain). Arabic language poets used rhyme extensively from the first development of literary Arabic in the sixth century, as in their long, rhyming qasidas. Some rhyming schemes have become associated with a specific language, culture or period, while other rhyming schemes have achieved use across languages, cultures or time periods. Some forms of poetry carry a consistent and well-defined rhyming scheme, such as the chant royal or the rubaiyat, while other poetic forms have variable rhyme schemes.

Most rhyme schemes are described using letters that correspond to sets of rhymes, so if the first, second and fourth lines of a quatrain rhyme with each other and the third line does not rhyme, the quatrain is said to have an "a-a-b-a" rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme is the one used, for example, in the rubaiyat form. Similarly, an "a-b-b-a" quatrain (what is known as "enclosed rhyme") is used in such forms as the Petrarchan sonnet. Some types of more complicated rhyming schemes have developed names of their own, separate from the "a-b-c" convention, such as the ottava rima and terza rima. The types and use of differing rhyming schemes is discussed further in the main article.

Ottava rima

Ottava rima is a rhyming scheme using a stanza of eight lines with an alternating a-b rhyming scheme for the first six lines followed by a closing couplet. First used by Boccaccio, it was developed for heroic epics but has also been used for mock-heroic poetry.

Terza rima

Dante's Divine Comedy is written in terza rima, where each stanza has three lines, with the first and third rhyming, and the second line rhyming with the first and third lines of the next stanza (thus, a-b-a / b-c-b / c-d-c, et cetera.) in a chain rhyme. The terza rima provides a flowing, progressive sense to the poem, and used skilfully it can evoke a sense of motion, both forward and backward. Terza rima is appropriately used in lengthy poems in languages with rich rhyming structures (such as Italian, with its many common word endings).

Form

Poetic form is more flexible in modernist and post-modernist poetry, and continues to be less structured than in previous literary eras. Many modern poets eschew recognisable structures or forms, and write in free verse. But poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form; some regard for basic formal structures of poetry will be found in even the best free verse, however much such structures may appear to have been ignored. Similarly, in the best poetry written in classic styles there will be departures from strict form for emphasis or effect.

Among major structural elements used in poetry are the line, the stanza or verse paragraph, and larger combinations of stanzas or lines such as cantos. Also sometimes used are broader visual presentations of words and calligraphy. These basic units of poetic form are often combined into larger structures, called poetic forms or poetic modes (see following section), as in the sonnet or haiku.

Lines and stanzas

Poetry is often separated into lines on a page. These lines may be based on the number of metrical feet, or may emphasize a rhyming pattern at the ends of lines. Lines may serve other functions, particularly where the poem is not written in a formal metrical pattern. Lines can separate, compare or contrast thoughts expressed in different units, or can highlight a change in tone. See the article on line breaks for information about the division between lines.

Lines of poems are often organized into stanzas, which are denominated by the number of lines included. Thus a collection of two lines is a couplet (or distich), three lines a triplet (or tercet), four lines a quatrain, five lines a quintain (or cinquain), six lines a sestet, and eight lines an . These lines may or may not relate to each other by rhyme or rhythm. For example, a couplet may be two lines with identical meters which rhyme or two lines held together by a common meter alone. Stanzas often have related couplets or triplets within them.

's poem, "Noch, ulitsa, fonar, apteka" ("Night, street, lamp, drugstore"), on a wall in Leiden]]

Other poems may be organized into verse paragraphs, in which regular rhymes with established rhythms are not used, but the poetic tone is instead established by a collection of rhythms, alliterations, and rhymes established in paragraph form. Many medieval poems were written in verse paragraphs, even where regular rhymes and rhythms were used.

In many forms of poetry, stanzas are interlocking, so that the rhyming scheme or other structural elements of one stanza determine those of succeeding stanzas. Examples of such interlocking stanzas include, for example, the ghazal and the villanelle, where a refrain (or, in the case of the villanelle, refrains) is established in the first stanza which then repeats in subsequent stanzas. Related to the use of interlocking stanzas is their use to separate thematic parts of a poem. For example, the strophe, antistrophe and epode of the ode form are often separated into one or more stanzas. In such cases, or where structures are meant to be highly formal, a stanza will usually form a complete thought, consisting of full sentences and cohesive thoughts.

In some cases, particularly lengthier formal poetry such as some forms of epic poetry, stanzas themselves are constructed according to strict rules and then combined. In skaldic poetry, the dróttkvætt stanza had eight lines, each having three "lifts" produced with alliteration or assonance. In addition to two or three alliterations, the odd numbered lines had partial rhyme of consonants with dissimilar vowels, not necessarily at the beginning of the word; the even lines contained internal rhyme in set syllables (not necessarily at the end of the word). Each half-line had exactly six syllables, and each line ended in a trochee. The arrangement of dróttkvætts followed far less rigid rules than the construction of the individual dróttkvætts.

Visual presentation

Even before the advent of printing, the visual appearance of poetry often added meaning or depth. Acrostic poems conveyed meanings in the initial letters of lines or in letters at other specific places in a poem. In Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese poetry, the visual presentation of finely calligraphed poems has played an important part in the overall effect of many poems.

With the advent of printing, poets gained greater control over the mass-produced visual presentations of their work. Visual elements have become an important part of the poet's toolbox, and many poets have sought to use visual presentation for a wide range of purposes. Some Modernist poets have made the placement of individual lines or groups of lines on the page an integral part of the poem's composition. At times, this complements the poem's rhythm through visual caesuras of various lengths, or creates juxtapositions so as to accentuate meaning, ambiguity or irony, or simply to create an aesthetically pleasing form. In its most extreme form, this can lead to concrete poetry or asemic writing.

Diction

illustration to Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862). Goblin Market used complex poetic diction in nursery-rhyme form: "We must not look at goblin men, / We must not buy their fruits: / Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?"]] Poetic diction treats of the manner in which language is used, and refers not only to the sound but also to the underlying meaning and its interaction with sound and form. Many languages and poetic forms have very specific poetic dictions, to the point where distinct grammars and dialects are used specifically for poetry. Registers in poetry can range from strict employment of ordinary speech patterns, as favoured in much late 20th century prosody, through to highly ornate and aureate uses of language by such as the medieval and renaissance makars.

Poetic diction can include rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, as well as tones of voice, such as irony. Aristotle wrote in the Poetics that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor." Since the rise of Modernism, some poets have opted for a poetic diction that de-emphasizes rhetorical devices, attempting instead the direct presentation of things and experiences and the exploration of tone. On the other hand, Surrealists have pushed rhetorical devices to their limits, making frequent use of catachresis.

Allegorical stories are central to the poetic diction of many cultures, and were prominent in the West during classical times, the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Rather than being fully allegorical, however, a poem may contain symbols or allusions that deepen the meaning or effect of its words without constructing a full allegory.

Another strong element of poetic diction can be the use of vivid imagery for effect. The juxtaposition of unexpected or impossible images is, for example, a particularly strong element in surrealist poetry and haiku. Vivid images are often, as well, endowed with symbolism.

Many poetic dictions use repetitive phrases for effect, either a short phrase (such as Homer's "rosy-fingered dawn" or "the wine-dark sea") or a longer refrain. Such repetition can add a somber tone to a poem, as in many odes, or can be laced with irony as the context of the words changes. For example, in Antony's famous eulogy of Caesar in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Antony's repetition of the words, "For Brutus is an honorable man," moves from a sincere tone to one that exudes irony.

Forms

Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures. In more developed, closed or "received" poetic forms, the rhyming scheme, meter and other elements of a poem are based on sets of rules, ranging from the relatively loose rules that govern the construction of an elegy to the highly formalized structure of the ghazal or villanelle. Described below are some common forms of poetry widely used across a number of languages. Additional forms of poetry may be found in the discussions of poetry of particular cultures or periods and in the glossary.

Sonnet

Among the most common forms of poetry through the ages is the sonnet, which by the 13th century was a poem of fourteen lines following a set rhyme scheme and logical structure. A sonnet's first four lines typically introduce the topic. A sonnet usually follows an a-b-a-b rhyme pattern. The sonnet's conventions have changed over its history, and so there are several different sonnet forms. Traditionally, in sonnets English poets use iambic pentameter, the Spenserian and Shakespearean sonnets being especially notable. In the Romance languages, the hendecasyllable and Alexandrine are the most widely used meters, though the Petrarchan sonnet has been used in Italy since the 14th century. Sonnets are particularly associated with love poetry, and often use a poetic diction heavily based on vivid imagery, but the twists and turns associated with the move from octave to sestet and to final couplet make them a useful and dynamic form for many subjects. Shakespeare's sonnets are among the most famous in English poetry, with 20 being included in the Oxford Book of English Verse. The relative prominence of a poet or set of works is often measured by reference to inclusion in the Oxford Book of English Verse or the Norton Anthology of Poetry.

Jintishi

The jintishi (近體詩) is a Chinese poetic form based on a series of set tonal patterns using the four tones of Middle Chinese in each couplet: the level, rising, departing and entering tones. The basic form of the jintishi has eight lines in four couplets, with parallelism between the lines in the second and third couplets. The couplets with parallel lines contain contrasting content but an identical grammatical relationship between words. Jintishi often have a rich poetic diction, full of allusion, and can have a wide range of subject, including history and politics. One of the masters of the form was Du Fu, who wrote during the Tang Dynasty (8th century). There are several variations on the basic form of the jintishi.

Sestina

The sestina has six stanzas, each comprising six unrhymed lines, in which the words at the end of the first stanza’s lines reappear in a rolling pattern in the other stanzas. The poem then ends with a three-line stanza in which the words again appear, two on each line.

Villanelle

The Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem made up of five triplets with a closing quatrain; the poem is characterized by having two refrains, initially used in the first and third lines of the first stanza, and then alternately used at the close of each subsequent stanza until the final quatrain, which is concluded by the two refrains. The remaining lines of the poem have an a-b alternating rhyme. The villanelle has been used regularly in the English language since the late 19th century by such poets as Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, and Elizabeth Bishop. It is a form that has gained increased use at a time when the use of received forms of poetry has generally been declining.

Pantoum

The pantoum is a rare form of poetry similar to a villanelle. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next.

Rondeau

The rondeau was originally a French form, written on two rhymes with fifteen lines, using the first part of the first line as a refrain.

Roundel

The roundel form, said to have been devised by Swinburne, consists of nine lines plus a refrain after the third line and after the last line, the refrain being identical with the beginning of the first line.

Tanka

Tanka is a form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, with five sections totalling 31 onji (phonological units identical to morae), structured in a 5-7-5 7-7 pattern. There is generally a shift in tone and subject matter between the upper 5-7-5 phrase and the lower 7-7 phrase. Tanka were written as early as the Nara period by such poets as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, at a time when Japan was emerging from a period where much of its poetry followed Chinese form. Tanka was originally the shorter form of Japanese formal poetry, and was used more heavily to explore personal rather than public themes. It thus had a more informal poetic diction. By the 13th century, tanka had become the dominant form of Japanese poetry, and it is still widely written today. The 31-mora rule is generally ignored by poets writing literary tanka in languages other than Japanese.

Haiku

Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the 17th century from the hokku, or opening verse of a renku. Generally written in a single vertical line, the haiku contains three sections totalling 17 onji (see above, at Tanka), structured in a 5-7-5 pattern. Traditionally, haiku contain (1) a kireji, or cutting word, usually placed at the end of one of the poem's three sections; and (2) a kigo, or season-word. The most famous exponent of the haiku was Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694). An example of his writing: : :fuji no kaze ya oogi ni nosete Edo miyage

:the wind of Mt. Fuji :I've brought on my fan! :a gift from Edo

Ruba'i

Ruba'i is a four-line verse (quatrain) practiced by Arabian, Persian, Urdu, Azerbaijani (Azeri) poets. Famous for his rubaiyat (collection of quatrains) is the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. The most celebrated English renderings of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam were produced by Edward Fitzgerald; an example is given below:

:They say the Lion and the Lizard keep :The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep: :And Bahram, that great Hunter—the Wild Ass :Stamps o'er his Head, and he lies fast asleep.

Sijo

Sijo is a short musical lyric practiced by Korean poets. It is usually written as three lines, each averaging 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46 syllables. There is a pause in the middle of each line and so, in English, a sijo is sometimes printed in six lines rather than three. An example is given below:

:You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine. :The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade. :Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?

Ode

Odes were first developed by poets writing in ancient Greek, such as Pindar, and Latin, such as Horace. Forms of odes appear in many of the cultures that were influenced by the Greeks and Latins. The ode generally has three parts: a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode. The antistrophes of the ode possess similar metrical structures and, depending on the tradition, similar rhyme structures. In contrast, the epode is written with a different scheme and structure. Odes have a formal poetic diction, and generally deal with a serious subject. The strophe and antistrophe look at the subject from different, often conflicting, perspectives, with the epode moving to a higher level to either view or resolve the underlying issues. Odes are often intended to be recited or sung by two choruses (or individuals), with the first reciting the strophe, the second the antistrophe, and both together the epode. Over time, differing forms for odes have developed with considerable variations in form and structure, but generally showing the original influence of the Pindaric or Horatian ode. One non-Western form which resembles the ode is the qasida in Persian poetry.

Ghazal

ghazal poet Anwar Masood]] The ghazal (Arabic: ghazal, Persian: ghazel, Turkish/Azerbaijani: gazel, Urdu: gazal, Bengali/Sylheti: gozol) is a form of poetry common in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Urdu and Bengali poetry. In classic form, the ghazal has from five to fifteen rhyming couplets that share a refrain at the end of the second line. This refrain may be of one or several syllables, and is preceded by a rhyme. Each line has an identical meter. Each couplet forms a complete thought and stands alone, and the overall ghazal often reflects on a theme of unattainable love or divinity. The last couplet generally includes the signature of the author.

As with other forms with a long history in many languages, many variations have been developed, including forms with a quasi-musical poetic diction in Urdu. Ghazals have a classical affinity with Sufism, and a number of major Sufi religious works are written in ghazal form. The relatively steady meter and the use of the refrain produce an incantatory effect, which complements Sufi mystical themes well. Among the masters of the form is Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet who lived in Konya, in present-day Turkey.

Acrostic

An acrostic (from the late Greek akróstichon, from ákros, "top", and stíchos, "verse") is a poem or other form of writing in an alphabetic script, in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out another message. A form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval.

A famous acrostic comes from the acclamation, "Jesus Christ, God's son, savior," which in Greek is: "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ ͑Υιός, Σωτήρ", Iēsous Christos, Theou Huios, Sōtēr. The initial letters of each word spell ichthys, the Greek word for fish; hence the frequent use of the fish as a symbol for Jesus Christ.

The Jewish devotional prayer Ashrei has lines beginning with each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in turn, implying that Jews ought to praise God with each letter of the alphabet. Likewise, the prayer Ashamnu, recited on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), lists sins beginning with each letter of the alphabet, emphasizing the breadth and universality of wrongdoing.

Canzone

Literally "song" in Italian, a canzone (plural: canzoni) (cognate with English to chant) is an Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition which is simple and songlike is designated as a canzone, especially if it is by a non-Italian; a good example is the aria "Voi che sapete" from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

Cinquain

While "quintain" is the general term applied to poetic forms using a 5-line pattern, there are specific forms within that category that are defined by specific rules and guidelines. The term "CINQUAIN" (pronounced SING-cane, the plural is "cinquains") as applied by modern poets most correctly refers to a form invented by the American poet Adelaide Crapsey. The first examples of these were published in 1915 in The Complete Poems, roughly a year after her death. Her cinquain form was inspired by Japanese haiku and Tanka (a form of Waka).

Other forms

Other forms of poetry include:

Carmina figurata

Concrete poetry: Word arrangement, typeface, color or other visual effects are used to complement or dramatize the meaning of the words used.

Fixed verse

Folk song

Free verse: based on the irregular rhythmic cadence or the recurrence, with variations, of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter.

Limerick

Minnesang

Murabba

Pastourelle

Poetry slam: This is a modern style of spoken word poetry, frequently associated with a distinctive style of delivery.

Stev

Yoik

Genres

In addition to specific forms of poems, poetry is often thought of in terms of different genres and subgenres. A poetic genre is generally a tradition or classification of poetry based on the subject matter, style, or other broader literary characteristics. Some commentators view genres as natural forms of literature. Others view the study of genres as the study of how different works relate and refer to other works.

Epic poetry is one commonly identified genre, often defined as lengthy poems concerning events of a heroic or important nature to the culture of the time. Lyric poetry, which tends to be shorter, melodic, and contemplative, is another commonly identified genre. Some commentators may organize bodies of poetry into further subgenres, and individual poems may be seen as a part of many different genres. In many cases, poetic genres show common features as a result of a common tradition, even across cultures.

Described below are some common genres, but the classification of genres, the description of their characteristics, and even the reasons for undertaking a classification into genres can take many forms.

Narrative poetry

Narrative poetry is a genre of poetry that tells a story. Broadly it subsumes epic poetry, but the term "narrative poetry" is often reserved for smaller works, generally with more appeal to human interest.

Narrative poetry may be the oldest type of poetry. Many scholars of Homer have concluded that his Iliad and Odyssey were composed from compilations of shorter narrative poems that related individual episodes and were more suitable for an evening's entertainment. Much narrative poetry—such as Scots and English ballads, and Baltic and Slavic heroic poems—is performance poetry with roots in a preliterate oral tradition. It has been speculated that some features that distinguish poetry from prose, such as meter, alliteration and kennings, once served as memory aids for bards who recited traditional tales.

Notable narrative poets have included Ovid, Dante, Juan Ruiz, Chaucer, William Langland, Luís de Camões, Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, Fernando de Rojas, Adam Mickiewicz, Alexander Pushkin, Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Tennyson.

Epic poetry

Epic poetry is a genre of poetry, and a major form of narrative literature. It recounts, in a continuous narrative, the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons. Examples of epic poems are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, the Nibelungenlied, Luís de Camões' Os Lusíadas, the Cantar de Mio Cid, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata, Valmiki's Ramayana, Ferdowsi's Shahnama, Nizami (or Nezami)'s Khamse (Five Books), and the Epic of King Gesar.

While the composition of epic poetry, and of long poems generally, became less common in the west after the early 20th century, some notable epics have continued to be written. Derek Walcott won a Nobel prize to a great extent on the basis of his epic, Omeros.

Dramatic poetry

Dramatic poetry is drama written in verse to be spoken or sung, and appears in varying, sometimes related forms in many cultures. Verse drama may have developed out of earlier oral epics, such as the Sanskrit and Greek epics.

Greek tragedy in verse dates to the 6th century B.C., and may have been an influence on the development of Sanskrit drama, just as Indian drama in turn appears to have influenced the development of the bianwen verse dramas in China, forerunners of Chinese Opera. East Asian verse dramas also include Japanese Noh.

Examples of dramatic poetry in Persian literature include Nezami's two famous dramatic works, Layla and Majnun and Khosrow and Shirin, Ferdowsi's tragedies such as Rostam and Sohrab, Rumi's Masnavi, Gorgani's tragedy of Vis and Ramin, and Vahshi's tragedy of Farhad.

Satirical poetry

Poetry can be a powerful vehicle for satire. The punch of an insult delivered in verse can be many times more powerful and memorable than that of the same insult, spoken or written in prose. The Romans had a strong tradition of satirical poetry, often written for political purposes. A notable example is the Roman poet Juvenal's satires, whose insults stung the entire spectrum of society.

The same is true of the English satirical tradition. Embroiled in the feverish politics of the time and stung by an attack on him by his former friend, Thomas Shadwell (a Whig), John Dryden (a Tory), the first Poet Laureate, produced in 1682 Mac Flecknoe, one of the greatest pieces of sustained invective in the English language, subtitled "A Satire on the True Blue Protestant Poet, T.S." In this, the late, notably mediocre poet, Richard Flecknoe, was imagined to be contemplating who should succeed him as ruler "of all the realms of Nonsense absolute" to "reign and wage immortal war on wit."

Another master of 17th-century English satirical poetry was John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. He was known for ruthless satires such as "A Satyr Against Mankind" (1675) and a "A Satyr on Charles II."

Another exemplar of English satirical poetry was Alexander Pope, who famously chided critics in his Essay on Criticism (1709). Dryden and Pope were writers of epic poetry, and their satirical style was accordingly epic; but there is no prescribed form for satirical poetry.

The greatest satirical poets outside England include Poland's Ignacy Krasicki, Azerbaijan's Sabir and Portugal's Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, commonly known as Bocage.

Lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is a genre that, unlike epic poetry and dramatic poetry, does not attempt to tell a story but instead is of a more personal nature. Rather than depicting characters and actions, it portrays the poet's own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. While the genre's name, derived from "lyre", implies that it is intended to be sung, much lyric poetry is meant purely for reading.

Though lyric poetry has long celebrated love, many courtly-love poets also wrote lyric poems about war and peace, nature and nostalgia, grief and loss. Notable among these are the 15th century French lyric poets, Christine de Pizan and Charles, Duke of Orléans. Spiritual and religious themes were addressed by such mystic lyric poets as St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila. The tradition of lyric poetry based on spiritual experience was continued by later poets such as John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Antonio Machado and T. S. Eliot.

Though the most popular form for western lyric poetry to take may be the 14-line sonnet, as practiced by Petrarch and Shakespeare, lyric poetry shows a bewildering variety of forms, including increasingly, in the 20th century, unrhymed ones. Lyric poetry is the most common type of poetry, as it deals intricately with an author's own emotions and views.

Elegy

An elegy is a mournful, melancholy or plaintive poem, especially a lament for the dead or a funeral song. The term "elegy," which originally denoted a type of poetic meter (elegiac meter), commonly describes a poem of mourning. An elegy may also reflect something that seems to the author to be strange or mysterious. The elegy, as a reflection on a death, on a sorrow more generally, or on something mysterious, may be classified as a form of lyric poetry. In a related sense that harks back to ancient poetic traditions of sung poetry, the word "elegy" may also denote a type of musical work, usually of a sad or somber nature.

Elegiac poetry has been written since antiquity. Perhaps the first example of the form is II Samuel, Chapter 1, in which David laments the fall of King Saul and of Saul's son and heir Jonathan. Notable practitioners have included Propertius (lived ca. 50 BCE – ca. 15 BCE), Jorge Manrique (1476), Jan Kochanowski (1580), Chidiock Tichborne (1586), Edmund Spenser (1595), Ben Jonson (1616), John Milton (1637), Thomas Gray (1750), Charlotte Turner Smith (1784), William Cullen Bryant (1817), Percy Bysshe Shelley (1821), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1823), Evgeny Baratynsky (1837), Alfred Tennyson (1849), Walt Whitman (1865), Louis Gallet (lived 1835–98), Antonio Machado (1903), Juan Ramón Jiménez (1914), William Butler Yeats (1916), Rainer Maria Rilke (1922), Virginia Woolf (1927), Federico García Lorca (1935), Kamau Brathwaite (born 1930).

Verse fable

The fable is an ancient, near-ubiquitous literary genre, often (though not invariably) set in verse. It is a succinct story that features anthropomorphized animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that illustrate a moral lesson (a "moral"). Verse fables have used a variety of meter and rhyme patterns; Ignacy Krasicki, for example, in his Fables and Parables, used 13-syllable lines in rhyming couplets.

Notable verse fabulists have included Aesop (mid-6th century BCE), Vishnu Sarma (ca. 200 BCE), Phaedrus (15 BCE–50 CE), Marie de France (12th century), Robert Henryson (fl.1470-1500), Biernat of Lublin (1465?–after 1529), Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95), Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Félix María de Samaniego (1745–1801), Tomás de Iriarte (1750–1791), Ivan Krylov (1769–1844) and Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914). All of Aesop's translators and successors owe a debt to that semi-legendary fabulist.

An example of a verse fable is Krasicki's "The Lamb and the Wolves": :Aggression ever finds cause if sufficiently pressed. :Two wolves on the prowl had trapped a lamb in the forest :And were about to pounce. Quoth the lamb: "What right have you?" :"You're toothsome, weak, in the wood." — The wolves dined sans ado.

Prose poetry

, by Gustave Courbet]] Prose poetry is a hybrid genre that shows attributes of both prose and poetry. It may be indistinguishable from the micro-story ( the "short short story", "flash fiction"). It qualifies as poetry because of its conciseness, use of metaphor, and special attention to language.

While some examples of earlier prose strike modern readers as poetic, prose poetry is commonly regarded as having originated in 19th-century France, where its practitioners included Aloysius Bertrand, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé.

The genre has subsequently found notable exemplars in various languages:

Bengali: Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore

English: Oscar Wilde, T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Giannina Braschi, Seamus Heaney, Russell Edson, Robert Bly, Charles Simic, Joseph Conrad

French: Max Jacob, Henri Michaux, Francis Ponge, Jean Tardieu, Jean-Pierre Vallotton.

Greek: Andreas Embirikos, Nikos Engonopoulos

Italian: Eugenio Montale, Salvatore Quasimodo, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Umberto Saba

Polish: Bolesław Prus, Zbigniew Herbert

Portuguese: Fernando Pessoa, Mário Cesariny, Mário de Sá-Carneiro, Walter Solon, Eugénio de Andrade, Al Berto, Alexandre O'Neill, José Saramago, António Lobo Antunes

Russian: Ivan Turgenev, Regina Derieva, Anatoly Kudryavitsky

Spanish: Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Octavio Paz, Giannina Braschi, Ángel Crespo, Julio Cortázar, Ruben Dario, Oliverio Girondo, Aníbal Cristobo.

Swedish: Tomas Tranströmer

Sindhi language: Narin Shiam, Hari Dilgeer, Tanyir Abasi, Saikh Ayaz, Mukhtiar Malik, Taj Joyo

Punjabi language: Ali Arman

Urdu language: Ali Arman

Since the late 1980s especially, prose poetry has gained increasing popularity, with entire journals devoted solely to that genre.

See also

Poetry terminology

Notes

References

Anthologies

Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter & Jon Stallworthy (Eds). The Norton Anthology of Poetry. New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Co. (4th ed, 1996), ISBN 0-393-96820-0.

Helen Gardner (Ed). New Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1950. New York, New York and London, England: Oxford University Press, (1972), ISBN 0-19-812136-9.

Donald Hall (Ed). ''New Poets of England and America. New York, New York: Meridian Press, (1957).

Philip Larkin (Ed). The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse. New York, New York and London, England: Oxford University Press, (1973)

James Laughlin (Ed). New Directions in Prose and Poetry Annuals. Norfolk, Connecticut and New York, New York: New Directions Publications (1936–1991).

Arthur Quiller-Couch (Ed). Oxford Book of English Verse. Oxford University Press, (1900).

W.B. Yeats (Ed). Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892-1935. Oxford University Press, (1936)

Scansion and form

Alfred Corn. The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody. London, England: Storyline Press (1997), ISBN 1-885266-40-5.

Annie Finch. A Poet's Ear: A Handbook of Meter and Form. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press (2011).

Stephen Fry. . London: Arrow Books (2007).

Paul Fussell. Poetic Meter and Poetic Form. New York, New York: Random House (1965).

John Hollander. Rhyme's Reason (3rd ed). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press (2001).

James McAuley. Versification, A Short Introduction. Michigan State University Press (1983), ISBN B0007DTS8K

Robert Pinsky. The Sounds of Poetry (1998).

Criticism and history

Cleanth Brooks. The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry. New York, New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, (1947).

William K. Wimsatt, Jr. & Cleanth Brooks. Literary Criticism: A Short History. New York, New York: Vintage Books, (1957).

T. S. Eliot. The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism. London, England: Methuen Publishing, Ltd., (1920).

George Gascoigne. Certayne Notes of Instruction Concerning the Making of English Verse or Ryme Stormloader.com.

Ezra Pound. ABC of Reading. London, England: Faber, (1951).

Władysław Tatarkiewicz. "The Concept of Poetry," translated by Christopher Kasparek, Dialectics and Humanism: the Polish Philosophical Quarterly, vol. II, no. 2 (spring 1975), pp. 13–24.

John Thompson. The Founding of English Meter. New York, New York: Columbia University Press (1961).

Language

Zhiming Bao. The Structure of Tone. New York, New York: Oxford University Press (1999) ISBN 0-19-511880-4.

Morio Kono. "Perception and Psychology of Rhythm" in Accent, Intonation, Rhythm and Pause. (1997).

Moira Yip. Tone. Cambridge textbooks in linguistics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2002) ISBN 0-521-77314-8 (hbk), ISBN 0-521-77445-4 (pbk).

Other

Alex Preminger, Terry V.F. Brogan and Frank J. Warnke (Eds). The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (3rd Ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-02123-6.

Hamid R. Tizhoosh, Farhang Sahba, Rozita Dara Poetic Features for Poem Recognition: A Comparative Study Journal of Pattern Recognition Research, (JPRR.org) Vol 3 (1) 2008.

Category:Aesthetics Category:Genres Category:Linguistics Category:Literature Category:Methods of writing * Category:Spoken word Category:Greek loanwords

Name	Phoebe Snow
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Phoebe Ann Laub
Born	July 17, 1952 New York City
Instrument	guitar
Occupation	Singer, songwriter
Associated acts	Sisters of Glory
Url	www.phoebesnow.com

Phoebe Snow (born July 17, 1952) is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her 1975 hit "Poetry Man."

Snow is described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves."

Personal life

Born Phoebe Ann Laub in New York City, Snow was raised in a household where Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, Dixieland jazz, classical music and folk music recordings were played around the clock. Her father, Merrill Laub, was an exterminator by trade, had an encyclopedic knowledge of American film and theater and was an avid collector and restorer of antiques. Her mother, Lili, was a dance teacher who had danced with the Martha Graham group at one time. Her mother died after a 12-year battle with bone cancer. She grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School. She subsequently attended Shimer College in Mount Carroll, Illinois, but did not graduate. As a teenager, she carried her prized Martin 00018 acoustic guitar from club to club around Greenwich Village, playing and singing on amateur nights. Her stage name is the same as a fictional advertising character created in the early 1900s for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, a young woman named Phoebe Snow, who appeared on boxcars traveling near her hometown.

She was briefly married to Phil Kearns, and, in December 1975, gave birth to a severely brain-injured daughter, Valerie. Snow resolved not to institutionalize her but instead care for her at home, which she did until Valerie died on March 18, 2007 at the age of 31. Snow's efforts to care for Valerie greatly and negatively affected her professional career, nearly ending it; it also adversely affected her personal life.

Snow suffered a brain hemorrhage on January 19, 2010 and underwent surgery.

Professional life

It was at the Bitter End club in 1972 that Denny Cordell, a promotions executive for Shelter Records, was so taken by the singer that he signed her to the label and produced her first recording. She released an eponymous album, Phoebe Snow, in 1974. Featuring guest performances by The Persuasions, Zoot Sims, Teddy Wilson, David Bromberg and Dave Mason, Snow's album became one of the most acclaimed debut recordings of the era. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 #5 hit single, "Poetry Man," reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart, won Snow a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and established her as a formidable singer/songwriter. The cover of Rolling Stone magazine followed, while she performed as the opening act for tours by Jackson Browne and Paul Simon (with whom she recorded the hit single "Gone at Last" in 1975). 1975 also brought the first of several appearances as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, on which Snow performed both solo and in duets with Paul Simon and Linda Ronstadt. During the 1975 appearance, she was seven months pregnant with her daughter.

Legal battles took place between Snow and Shelter Records, and Snow ended up signed to Columbia Records. Her second album, Second Childhood, appeared in 1976, produced by Phil Ramone. It was jazzier and more introspective, and suffered disappointing sales. Snow moved to a harder sound for It Looks Like Snow, released later in 1976 with David Rubinson producing. 1977 saw Never Letting Go, again with Ramone, while 1978's Against the Grain was helmed by Barry Beckett. After that Snow parted ways with Columbia; she would later say that the stress of her parental obligations degraded her ability to make music effectively.

In 1981, Snow, now signed with Mirage Records, released Rock Away, recorded with members of Billy Joel's band; it spun off the Top 50 hit "Games". The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide summed up Snow's career so far by saying: "One of the most gifted voices of her generation, Phoebe Snow can do just about anything stylistically as well as technically ... The question that's still unanswered is how best to channel such talent." However, Snow would now spend long periods away from recording, often singing commercial jingles for AT&T; and others in order to support herself and her daughter. During the 1980s she also battled her own life-threatening illness. Snow returned to recording with Something Real in 1989 and gathered a few more hits on the Adult Contemporary charts. Also, Snow composed the Detroit's WDIV-TV Go 4 It! campaign in 1980. She sang Ancient Places, Sacred Lands on Reading Rainbow's tenth episode The Gift of the Sacred Dog which was based on the book by Paul Goble and narrated by actor Michael Ansara. It was shot at Crow Agency, Montana in 1983.

In 1990, she contributed a cover version of the Delaney & Bonnie song "Get ourselves together" to the Elektra compilation Rubáiyát which included Earth Wind & Fire guitarist Dick Smith. In 1992, she toured with Donald Fagen's New York Rock and Soul Revue and was featured on the group's album recorded live at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Even when she wasn't recording her own works, Phoebe continued to tour extensively as a solo artist throughout North America, Great Britain, Germany, and the Far East.

Throughout the '90s she made numerous appearances on the Howard Stern radio show. She sang live for specials and birthday shows.

In 1997, she sang the Roseanne theme song a cappella during the closing moments of the final episode.

Snow has performed with a numerous artists including Lou Rawls, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Grusin, Avenue Blue with Jeff Golub, Garland Jeffreys, Jewel, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Queen, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Jackson Browne, Dave Mason, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Khan, CeCe Peniston, Take 6, Michael Bolton, Thelma Houston, Mavis Staples, Laurie Anderson, Tracy Nelson, and The Sisters of Glory (with whom she performed at the second Woodstock festival), among others. She also sings the title track on the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album, Time and Love, and recently Snow joined the pop group, Zap Mama, who recorded its own version of "Poetry Man," in an impromptu duet on the PBS series, "Sessions At West 54th." Hawaiian girl group Na Leo also had a hit on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1999 with their cover version of "Poetry Man."

In May 1998, Snow received the Cultural Achievement Award by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. She is also the recipient of a Don Kirschner Rock Award, several Playboy Music Poll Awards, New York Music Awards and the Clio Award.

She performed for President Clinton, the First Lady, and his cabinet at Camp David in 1999.

In 2003, Snow released her album Natural Wonder on Eagle Records, containing ten original tracks, her first original material in fourteen years.

Snow performed at Howard Stern's wedding in 2008, and made a special appearance in the film as herself. Some of her music was also featured on the . Her Live album (2008) featured many of her hits as well as a cover of the Janis Joplin classic, "Piece of My Heart."

Snow will release a new CD in 2010. She had been scheduled to begin touring with her band in March, prior to her stroke.

Discography

Albums

1974: Phoebe Snow

1976: Second Childhood

1976: It Looks Like Snow

1977: Never Letting Go

1978: Against the Grain

1981: The Best of Phoebe Snow

1981: Rock Away

1989: Something Real

1991: Rock and Soul Revue

1994: Phoebe Snow (Gold Disc)

1995: P.S.

1995: Good News In Hard Times with The Sisters of Glory

1998: I Can't Complain

2002: Very Best of Phoebe Snow

2003: Natural Wonder

2008: Live

Compilations

1982: The Best of Phoebe Snow

1995: P.S.

2001: The Very Best of Phoebe Snow

Singles

"Poetry Man" b/w Easy Street

(non-LP track included as a bonus on CD) January 1975 - US #5 Pop / #1 Adult Contemporary (1 wk.)

"Harpo's Blues" May 1975 - US #20 Adult Contemporary

"Gone at Last" August 1975 (with Paul Simon and Jessy Dixon Singers) - US #23 Pop / #9 Adult Contemporary

"Shakey Ground" January 1977 - US #70 Pop

"Games" February 1981 - US #46 Pop

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" May 1981 - US #52 Pop

"Dreams I Dream" (with Dave Mason) January 1988 - US #11 Adult Contemporary

"If I Can Just Get Through the Night" April 1989 - US #13 Adult Contemporary

"Something Real" July 1989 - US #29 Adult Contemporary

Cultural references

In The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's sister Janice Soprano is said to have named her son Harpo after Snow's song "Harpo's Blues".

References

External links

Bio at her official web site

Unofficial fan site

Soul Covers by Michael Awkward featuring research on Phoebe Snow

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:American Jews Category:American contraltos Category:Jewish American musicians Category:American singers Category:American female singers Category:Songwriters from New York Category:American folk singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:People from Teaneck, New Jersey Category:Shimer College alumni

Ted Kooser (born 25 April 1939) was an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.

Biography

Early years

Born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939, Kooser earned a BS at Iowa State University in 1962 and the MA at the University of Nebraska in 1968. He is the author of twelve collections of poetry. He is former vice-president of Lincoln Benefit Life, an insurance company, and lives on land near the village of Garland, Nebraska. He teaches as a Visiting Professor in the English department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is married to Kathleen Rutledge, former editor of the Lincoln Journal Star.

Career

On August 12, 2004, he was named Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the Librarian of Congress to serve a term from October 2004 through May 2005. In April 2005, Ted Kooser was appointed to serve a second term as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. During that same week Kooser received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book "Delights and Shadows" (Copper Canyon Press, 2004).

Kooser lives in Garland, Nebraska, and much of his work focuses on the Great Plains. Like Wallace Stevens, Kooser spent much of his working years as an executive in the insurance industry, although Kooser sardonically noted in an interview with the Washington Post that Stevens had far more time to write at work than he ever did. Kooser has won two NEA Literary Fellowships (in 1976 and 1984), the Pushcart Prize, the Nebraska Book Awards for Poetry (2001) and Nonfiction (2004), the Stanley Kunitz Prize (1984), the James Boatwright Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2005).

He hosts the newspaper project "American Life in Poetry."

Bibliography

Official Entry Blank. (1969).

Grass County. (1971).

Twenty Poems. (1973).

A Local Habitation and a Name. (1974).

Not Coming to Be Barked At. (1976).

Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems. (1980).

One World at a Time. (1985).

The Blizzard Voices. (1986).

Weather Central. (1994).

A Book of Things. (1995).

Riding with Colonel Carter. (1999).

Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison. (2001).

Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry. (with Jim Harrison) (Copper Canyon Press, 2003).

Delights and Shadows. (Copper Canyon Press, 2004).

Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps. (2004).

Flying At Night : Poems 1965-1985. (2005).

Lights on a Ground of Darkness: an evocation of place and time. (2005).

The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice For Beginning Poets. (2005).

Valentines. (2008).

References

External links

Official website

Ted Kooser: Online Resources from the Library of Congress

American Life in Poetry, Kooser's syndicated newspaper feature

Author interview in Guernica Magazine (Guernicamag.com)

Ted Kooser biographical summary

Linton Weeks, Washington Post, "Poet Laureate's Prized Words", April 5, 2005, page C1

A review of Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser.

Television Profile of Ted Kooser - NET Television

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:American poets Category:American Poets Laureate Category:Writers from Iowa Category:Writers from Nebraska Category:People from Ames, Iowa Category:People from Lincoln, Nebraska Category:Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Category:People from Nebraska Category:Iowa State University alumni

Name	Talib Kweli
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Talib Kweli Greene
Alias	The Get By Man, Kweli Snitch, The Prince of Brooklyn
Born	October 03, 1974, South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, Singer
Years active	1995–present
Label	Rawkus RecordsGeffenBlacksmith Records / Warner Bros. Records (2005-Present)
Associated acts	Black Star, Reflection Eternal, Madlib, Mos Def, Kanye West, The Roots, Pharrell
Url	TalibKweli.com

Talib Kweli Greene (born October 3, 1974 ), and his father an administrator at Adelphi University. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of Constitutional Law at Columbia Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse whom he had met in high school. Talib Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was also a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, before being academically dismissed. He later studied experimental theater at New York University (NYU).

Early career (1995-2001)

Kweli made his underground debut in 1995, with featured appearances on "Doom", an album by Cincinnati, Ohio group Mood (Main Flow, Donte, Jahson). In Cincinnati, Kweli also met DJ Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few well received underground recordings as Reflection Eternal. Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce their first and only album, 1998's Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip hop, was immediately hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. When Kweli and Mos Def parted ways shortly thereafter, Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album Train of Thought, which was likewise met with critical acclaim, but modest sales.

Start of solo career (2002-2003)

Following Train of Thought, Kweli and Hi-Tek split as well, and Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. 2002's Quality accomplished this goal to some extent, featuring production by a host of different producers, including DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album was met with wide spread critical acclaim and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By."

In 2001, Kweli with Black Star partner Mos Def contributed to the Red Hot + Indigo compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to Duke Ellington, that raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. Black Star collaborated with fellow artists John Patton and Ron Carter to record "Money Jungle." In 2002, Kweli contributed to the critically acclaimed Red Hot + Riot, a compilation CD created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. He collaborated with fellow hip-hop artists Dead Prez, Jorge Ben, and Bilal to remake the famous song by Fela Kuti, "Shuffering and Shmiling," for the CD.

Rise in cultural popularity

In 2004, Talib Kweli, along with Bob Moore's Amazing Mongrels, supported the Beastie Boys on their "Challah At Your Boy World Tour", and appeared in a few Dilated Peoples songs, including a live remix later featured on the video game NBA Street Vol. 2.

Along with Common and Questlove, he contributed to Zap Mama's Ancestry in Progress (2004) with "Yelling Away."

Kweli has used television appearances extensively to increase visibility, notably on MTV's Wild 'N Out, and several performances on Chappelle's Show with long-time collaborator Mos Def; these performances were a product of host Chappelle's friendship with Kweli. Chappelle in turn participated in a number of skits on Kweli's albums "Train of Thought" and "Quality"- impersonating several people including Nelson Mandela. Kweli also had a guest spot on Kanye West's widely successful debut album on the track "Get 'Em High". West has produced some of Kweli's songs, including his biggest commercial hit "Get By". West also includes a nod to Kweli on the song "Breathe in, Breathe Out" from his album "The College Dropout". The lyrics read: "Golly more of this bullshit ice rap/ I got to 'pologize to Mos and Kweli", an acknowledgement of Kweli's meaningful message spread while part of Blackstar. Kweli can be seen in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams. He also provided the voice of the protagonist in the graffiti-themed video game , released in 2006.

Talib and fellow rapper artist Mos Def purchased Nkiru, which is Brooklyn's oldest black-owned bookstore, and converted it into the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture.

Kweli's stature continued to grow, particularly fueled by a line from the track "Moment of Clarity" on Jay-Z's 2003 record, The Black Album: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli." Kweli responded to this in his track "Ghetto Show" on his 2004 album The Beautiful Struggle by stating "If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay Z."

Middle career (2004-2006)

In 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, The Beautiful Struggle, which debuted at no.14 in the billboard top 100. The album featured much more commercial production, and although Kweli's lyrics retained their socio-political content, he affected a somewhat harder persona. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash.

In 2005, Kweli released a Mixtape-CD off of his newly formed Blacksmith Records. The project was called , a title which is considered likely a response to the criticism of The Beautiful Struggle.

On , Talib Kweli sampled Ben Kweller's "In Other Words" for his own song "Ms. Hill". In part 7 of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song," Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little fucked up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission.

Recent career (2007-2010)

On December 31, 2006, Kweli released nine songs he recorded with acclaimed underground producer Madlib for free download in conjunction with the web site for Stones Throw Records, the label to which Madlib is signed. The album was entitled Liberation, of which Talib later was quoted by XXL magazine as stating releasing the album was liberating to him; "The idea that I could put out an album like that: record it in my house, put it out for free and get that type of response." In 2007, the album was made available for purchase.

For his newest release, Kweli formed his own record label, Blacksmith Records, and has recently signed acclaimed rapper Jean Grae and the group Strong Arm Steady. He also signed a new distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. His latest solo album is called Eardrum and was released on Aug 21, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The first single was Listen!!!.

Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek released a second Reflection Eternal album titled Revolutions Per Minute on May 18, 2010.

Talib Kweli has recently stated that he will be releasing a studio album, called Gutter Rainbows in January of 2011. kweli has said himself that this CD is the early beginnings/demos for "Prisoner Of Conscious" an album he still plans on releasing in the future. Not much is known about the album aside from a list of confirmed producers and that it will feature the song "Cold Rain"

Ongoing and Future projects

Kweli confirmed in a recent interview with VIBE magazine that the title of his next album will be Prisoner of Consciousness, a title derived from Talib's constant labeling as a "conscious rapper" and based on Nigerian reggae artist Majek Fashek's album "Prisoner of Conscience."

Talib recorded an album entitled Party Robot with R&B; singer Res and musician Graph Nobel under the group alias Idle Warship. The album was released as a free download on the website for Kweli's label Blacksmith with 2 different cover art options in late 2009. There were videos shot for two of the songs from the album "Bedroom Lights" and "Black Snake Moan".

In February 2009 it was announced that Talib would be featured in the graphic novel-turned-animated series Blokhedz on Missiong.com, voicing the lead part of the character Blak.

Personal life

Talib Kweli married DJ Eque on May 9, 2009 in Bel Air, California.

Talib has a daughter Diani Eshe and a son Amani Fela.

Talib Kweli is a spokesperson and mentor for P'Tones Records a non-profit after school music program that's mission is "to create constructive opportunities for urban youth through no-cost music programs"

Discography

Solo

Quality (2002)

The Beautiful Struggle (2004)

(2005)

Eardrum (2007)

Gutter Rainbows (2011) With Mos Def as Black Star

Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998)

With Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal

Train of Thought (2000)

Revolutions Per Minute (2010)

With Madlib

Liberation (2007)

References

External links

Interview Talib Kweli by Michael 'The Dood' Edwards for UK Vibe October 2010

Official site

Official blog

Talib Kweli at YouTube

Category:1975 births Category:African American rappers Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Rappers from New York City

Name	Saul Williams
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Saul Stacey Williams
Born	February 29, 1972
Genre	Hip hop, Spoken word, poetry, electronic, Industrial hip hop
Occupation	PoetWriterSingerMusicianActorVoice Actor
Instrument	Vocals
Url	Official Site

Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.

Biography

The youngest of three children, Williams was born in Newburgh, New York. He attended Newburgh Free Academy for high school, where he would originally write his song Black Stacey. After graduating from Morehouse College with a B.A. in acting and philosophy, Williams moved to New York City to earn a Master's Degree at New York University in acting. There, he found himself at the center of the New York cafe poetry scene.

Williams and artist Marcia Jones began their relationship in 1995 as collaborative artists on the Brooklyn performance art and spoken word circuit. Their daughter, Saturn, was born in 1996. His collection of poems S/HE is a series of reflections on the demise of the relationship. [Marcia], a visual artist and art professor, created the cover artwork for The Seventh Octave, images through-out S/HE in response to Williams, and set designed his 2001 album Amethyst Rock Star. Saturn has recently been performing with her father on his 2008 concert tour .

On his birthday, February 29, 2008, Williams married his girlfriend of five years, the actress Persia White. Williams met White in 2003 when he made a guest appearance on the TV show Girlfriends as a poet named Sivad. White has a daughter named Mecca (1993). On January 17, 2009, White announced via her MySpace blog that she and Williams were no longer together.

Williams is a vegan.

Williams lived abroad in Brazil in 1989, and his favorite Brazilian artists are Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil and João Gilberto.

Career

By 1995, he had become an open mic poet and, in 1996, he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Champion. The documentary film SlamNation follows Williams and the other members of the 1996 Nuyorican Poets Slam team (Beau Sia, Mums da Schemer and Jessica Care Moore) as they compete in the 1996 National Poetry Slam held in Portland, Oregon.

The following year, Williams landed the lead role in the 1998 feature film Slam. Williams served as both a writer and actor on the film, which would win both the Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Camera D'Or (Golden Camera) and serve to introduce Williams to international audiences.

Williams was at this time breaking into music. He had performed with such artists as Nas, The Fugees, Christian Alvarez, Blackalicious, Erykah Badu, KRS-One, Zack De La Rocha, De La Soul, and DJ Krust, as well as poets Allen Ginsberg and Sonia Sanchez. After releasing a string of EPs, in 2001 he released the LP Amethyst Rock Star with producer Rick Rubin and in September 2004 his self-titled album to much acclaim. He played several shows supporting Nine Inch Nails on their European tour in summer 2005, and has also supported The Mars Volta.

Williams was also invited to the Lollapalooza music festival in Summer 2005. The Chicago stage allowed Williams to attract a wider audience. He also appeared on NIN's album Year Zero, and supported the group on their 2006 North American tour. On the tour Williams announced that Trent Reznor would co-produce his next album.

This collaboration resulted in 2007's The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!. This album was available only at the website niggytardust.com until a physical CD of the album was issued. The physical release included new tracks and extended album artwork. The first 100,000 customers on the website had the option to download a free lower-quality audio version of the album. The other option was for users to pay $5 to support the artist directly and be given the choice of downloading the higher-quality MP3 version or the lossless FLAC version. The material has been produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. It was Reznor who said that, after his own recent dealings with record labels, they should release it independently and directly.

As a writer, Williams has been published in The New York Times, Esquire, Bomb Magazine and African Voices, as well as having released four collections of poetry. As a poet and musician, Williams has toured and lectured across the world, appearing at many universities and colleges. In his interview in the book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, Williams explained why he creates within so many genres, saying:

Williams is a vocal critic of the War on Terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; among his better-known works are the anti-war anthems "Not In My Name" and "Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)". In early 2008, a Nike Sparq Training commercial featured Williams' song "List of Demands (Reparations)".

In a November 2008 interview with Wired.com, Williams talked about his forthcoming projects:

In January 2009, he released "NGH WHT - The Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet", a reading of his 2006 poetry book of the same name. This collaboration with Thomas Kessler (who also set ,said the shotgun to the head to music) is released with two payment options: listeners may download Chapters 18-22 of the 27-minute composition for free (in mp3 format), or for $6, can download the entire 33-chapter composition in lossless .aif format, along with the isolated vocal and quartet multitrack stems. The entire paid download totals in size at 563 Megabyte.

Saul Williams was the headlining act in the 2009 Brave New Voices Competition.

He currently resides in Paris, France.

Saul has recently released a new song 'Explain My Heart' from his forthcoming album Volcanic Sunlight.

Discography

Albums/EPs

Penny for a Thought / Purple Pigeons (2000)

Amethyst Rock Star (2001)

Not in My Name (2003)

Saul Williams (2004)

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! (2007)

NGH WHT - The Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet (2009)

Volcanic Sunlight (2011)

Guest and compilation appearances

"Twice the First Time" on Eargasms - Crucialpoetics Vol. 1 (1997)

"Elohim (1972)" on Black Whole Styles (1998)

"Ohm" on Lyricist Lounge, Volume One (1999)

"Coded Language" on Coded Language by DJ Krust (1999)

"Spongebob Squarepants" (2001)

"Release" with Lyrics Born and Zack De La Rocha on Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious (2002)

"Time (Jungle) (Temple Of Soul Mix)" on Nublu Sessions, mixed by Wax Poetic (2003)

"Sent from Sandy Shores" (with Sacajawea) on Dreams of Water Themes by Adventure Time (2003)

"Wake up Show Freestyles" by Sway and King Tech (2004)

"Three Fingers" on Enter the Chicken by Buckethead & Friends (2005)

"Sea Lion (Extended)" (with Will Oldham) on "Sea Lion" by Sage Francis (2005)

"Mr. Nichols" on Sound Mirrors by Coldcut (2006)

"April Showers, April Tears" on ¿What by Stuart Davis (2006)

",said the shotgun to the head" on Thomas Kessler by Thomas Kessler (2006)

"Survivalism" and "Me, I'm Not" on Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails (2007)

"Gunshots By Computer" and "Survivalism" on Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D by Nine Inch Nails (2007)

"Lyrical Gunplay" on Thru by Thavius Beck

"Dance Of The Dead" on The Unbound Project, Vol. 1 a compilation benefit album for Mumia Abu-Jamal

"List Of Demands" on Nike Sparq Commercial

"Black Stacy Remix" ft. Nas

"U Can Do It" (with Maeckes) on "KIDS" by Maeckes (2010)

"Dance or Die" on The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe (2010)

Bibliography

The Seventh Octave, 1998, Moore Black Press ISBN 0-9658308-1-0

She, 1999, MTV/Pocketbooks ISBN 0-671-03977-6

,said the shotgun to the head, 2003, MTV/Pocketbooks ISBN 0-7434-7079-6

The Dead Emcee Scrolls, 2006, MTV/Pocketbooks ISBN 1-4165-1632-8

Mentioned in Raine Maida's song "One Second Chance" off his 2007 Solo Album - "The Hunters Lullabye"

Filmography

Downtown 81 (voice) (1981/2000)

Underground Voices (1996)

Slam (1998)

SlamNation (1998)

I'll Make Me a World (1999)

King Of The Korner (2000)

K-PAX (2001)

The N Word (2004)

Lackawanna Blues (2005)

References

External links

Official Site

Saul Williams at Discogs

Category:1972 births Category:African American actors Category:African American musicians Category:African American poets Category:African American performance poets Category:American activists Category:American anti-Iraq War activists Category:American film actors Category:American poets Category:American rappers Category:American television actors Category:American vegans Category:Anti-corporate activists Category:Copyright activists Category:Integral art Category:Living people Category:Morehouse College alumni Category:Actors from New York Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Newburgh, New York Category:Slam poetry Category:Slam poets Category:Urban fiction Category:Spoken word artists

Name	Rik Mayall
Birth name	Richard Michael Mayall
Birth date	March 07, 1958
Birth place	Harlow, Essex, England
Active	1980–present
Genre	Black comedy, physical comedy
Influences	John Cleese
Influenced	David Walliams, Richard Herring
Spouse	Barbara Robbin (1985-present; 3 children)
Family	John Mayall (father) & Gillian Mayall (mother)

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Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall (born 7 March 1958) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his comedy partnership with Adrian Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s.

Early life

Mayall, the second of four children, was born in Harlow, Essex to John and Gillian Mayall. He has an older brother, Anthony, and two younger sisters, Libby and Kate. When he was three, Mayall and his parents — who taught drama — moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, where he spent the rest of his childhood and performed in his parents' plays. After attending The King's School, Worcester, he studied drama at the University of Manchester in 1976, where he befriended his future comedy partner and best friend Adrian Edmondson. He also met Ben Elton and Lise Mayer, with whom he later wrote The Young Ones.

Career

The alternative comedy boom

Edmondson and Mayall gained their reputation at The Comedy Store, from 1980. The double act, "20th Century Coyote", became popular. Mayall also developed solo routines using characters such as Kevin Turvey and a pompous anarchist poet named Rick. This led to Mayall and Edmondson, along with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle and other acts French and Saunders, "The Outer Limits" (Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson), Arnold Brown and Pete Richens, to set up their own comedy club called "The Comic Strip" in the Raymond Revue Bar, a strip club. Mayall's popularity led to a regular slot for Kevin Turvey on A Kick Up the Eighties, first broadcast in 1981. He appeared as "Rest Home" Ricky in Richard O'Brien's Shock Treatment, sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He played Dentonvale's resident attendant as the love interest to Nell Campbell's Nurse Ansalong.

Mayall's television appearances as Kevin Turvey in 1977 along with Johnathan PP Seller warranted a mockumentary based on the character entitled Kevin Turvey — The Man Behind The Green Door, broadcast in 1982. The previous year, he appeared in a bit role in An American Werewolf in London. His stage partnership with Edmondson continued, often appearing together as "The Dangerous Brothers", hapless daredevils whose hyper-violent antics foreshadowed their characters in Bottom. Mayall also made a cameo appearance in the 1983 gothic horror movie, The Keep directed by Michael Mann. Channel 4 offered the Comic Strip group six short films, which became The Comic Strip Presents..., debuting on 2 November 1982. The series, which continued sporadically for many years, saw Mayall play a wide variety of roles. It saw known for anti-establishment humour and for parodies such as Bad News On Tour, a spoof "rockumentary" starring Mayall, Richardson, Edmondson and Planer as a heavy metal band.

At the time The Comic Strip Presents... was negotiated, the BBC took an interest in The Young Ones, a sitcom written by Mayall and then-girlfriend Lise Mayer, in the same anarchic vein as Comic Strip. Ben Elton joined the writers. The series was commissioned and first broadcast in 1982, shortly before Comic Strip. Mayall played Rik, a pompous sociology student and Cliff Richard devotee. Despite the sitcom format, Mayall maintained his double-act with Edmondson, who starred as violent punk Vyvyan. Nigel Planer (as hippie Neil) and Christopher Ryan (as "Mike the cool guy") also starred, with additional material written and performed by Alexei Sayle. The first series was successful and a second was commissioned in 1984.

Becoming a household name

Mayall continued to work on The Comic Strip films. He returned to standup, starring on Saturday Live — a British version of the American Saturday Night Live — first broadcast in 1985. He and Edmondson had a regular section as "The Dangerous Brothers", their earlier stage act. In 1985, Mayall debuted another comic creation. He had starred in the final episode of The Black Adder in 1983 as "Mad Gerald". He returned to play Lord Flashheart in the episode Blackadder II entitled "Bells". A descendant of this character, Squadron Commander Flashheart, was in the Blackadder Goes Forth episode "Private Plane". A similar character, also played by Mayall, appeared in 2000's as Robin Hood.

In 1986, Mayall joined with Planer, Edmondson and Elton to star in Filthy Rich & Catflap as Richie Rich in what was billed as a follow-up to The Young Ones. The idea of "Filthy Rich and Catflap" was in reaction to comments Jimmy Tarbuck made about the "Young Ones". The series primary focus was to highlight the "has been" status of light entertainment. While he received positive critical reviews, viewing figures were poor and the series was never repeated on the BBC. In later years, release on video, DVD and repeats on UK TV found a following. Mayall suggested the series did not last because he was uncomfortable acting in an Elton project, when they had been co-writers on The Young Ones. in 1987 saw Mayall co-star with Edmondson in the ITV sit-com Hardwicke House. Due to adverse reaction of press and viewers, ITV withdrew the series after two episodes. The same year, Mayall had a number one hit in the UK Singles charts when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed with Cliff Richard to record "Living Doll" for the inaugural Comic Relief campaign. Mayall played Rick one last time in the stage show and has supported the Comic Relief cause ever since. He appeared on the children's television series Jackanory. His crazed portrayal of Roald Dahl's George's Marvellous Medicine proved memorable. However, the BBC received complaints "with viewers claiming both story and presentation to be both dangerous and offensive."

In 1987, Mayall played fictional Conservative MP Alan Beresford B'Stard in the sitcom The New Statesman for Yorkshire Television, written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. The character was a satire of Tory MPs in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and early 1990s. The programme ran for four series — incorporating two BBC specials — between 1987–1994 and was a success critically and in ratings. In a similar vein to his appearance on Jackanory, in 1989, Mayall starred in a series of bit shows for ITV called Grim Tales, in which he narrated Grimm Brothers fairy tales while puppets acted the stories. In the early 1990s Mayall starred in humorous adverts for Nintendo games and consoles. With money from the ads, he bought his house in London which he calls 'Nintendo Towers'. He lent his voice to the PlayStation and Windows PC video game Hogs of War. In the early 1990s, he auditioned for Banzai, Zazu and Timon in The Lion King. He was asked to audition by lyricist Tim Rice.

1990s

In 1991, Edmondson and Mayall co-starred in the West End production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre. Here they came up with the idea for Bottom, which they said was a cruder cousin to Waiting for Godot. Bottom was commissioned by the BBC and three series were shown between 1991–1995. Mayall starred as "Richard 'Richie' Richard" alongside Edmondson's "Eddie Elizabeth Hitler". The series featured slapstick violence taken to new extremes. The series gained a strong cult following. In 1993, following the second series, Mayall and Edmondson decided to take a stage show version of the series on a national tour. Bottom: Live was a commercial success, filling large venues. Four additional stage shows were embarked upon in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003, each to great success. The violent natures of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital at various points. A film version, Guest House Paradiso, was released in 1999. A fourth TV series was also written, but not commissioned by the BBC.

".]] Mayall starred alongside Phoebe Cates in 1991's Drop Dead Fred as the eponymous character, a troublesome imaginary friend reappearing from a woman's childhood. He also appeared in Carry On Columbus (1992) with other alternative comedians. In 1991 he played Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre in the West End, alongside Edmondson (Estragon) and Christopher Ryan (Lucky). Mayall also provided the voice of the character Froglip, the leader of the goblins in the 1992 animated film adaption of the 1872 children's tale, The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. In 1993, he appeared in Rik Mayall Presents, three individual comedy dramas. Mayall's performances won a Best Comedy Performer award at that year's British Comedy Awards, and a second series of three was broadcast in early 1995. He provided the voice for Little Sod in Simon Brett's How to Be a Little Sod, written in 1991 and adapted as 10 consecutive episodes broadcast on the BBC in 1995.

In 1995 Mayall co-starred in a production of the play Cell Mates, alongside Stephen Fry. Not long into the run, Fry had a nervous breakdown and fled to Belgium, where he remained for several days, and the play closed. In 2007, Mayall said of the incident: "You don't leave the trenches ... [S]elfishness is one thing, being a c**t is another. I mustn't start that war again." Edmondson poked fun at the event during their stage tours. In , after Mayall gave mocking gestures to the audience and insulted their town in a silly voice, Edmondson said "Have you finished yet? It's just I'm beginning to understand why Stephen Fry f***** off!" In , after Richie accidentally fondles Eddie, he replies "I see why Stephen Fry left that play." Towards the end of Cell Mates Mayall revealed a replica gun — a prop from the play — to a passer-by in the street. He was cautioned over the incident. Mayall later conceded that this was "incredibly stupid, even by my standards". Since 1999, Mayall was the voice of the black-headed seagull Kehaar in the first and the second season of the animated television series Watership Down.

2000s–present

In 2000, Mayall appeared in the video production of Jesus Christ Superstar as King Herod. He joked in the "Making of" documentary, which was included on the DVD release, that "the real reason why millions of people want to come and see this is because I'm in it! Me and Jesus!" In 2002, Mayall teamed up with Marks and Gran once more when he starred as Professor Adonis Cnut in the ITV sitcom, Believe Nothing. However, the sitcom failed to repeat the success of The New Statesman and lasted only one series. Following 2003's Bottom: Live tour, Bottom 5: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts, Mayall stated that he and Edmondson would return with another tour. Shortly thereafter, however, Edmondson told The Daily Mail that he no longer wished to work on Bottom. This effectively dissolved their nearly 30-year partnership. Edmondson claimed they were "too old" to continue portraying the characters. Edmondson added that, since Mayall had recovered from his coma, he was slower on the uptake and it had become more difficult to work with him, as well as citing that due to taking medication, Mayall had been advised to stop drinking alcohol. However, Edmondson said that the pair remained very close friends.

Mayall did the voice-acting of the pompous, full-of-himself, Edwin in the BBC show Shoebox Zoo. He released an 'in-character' semi-fictionalised autobiography in September 2005 entitled Bigger than Hitler, Better than Christ (ISBN 0-00-720727-1). At the same time, he starred in a new series for ITV, All About George. Mayall reprised the role of Alan B'Stard in 2006 in the play The New Statesman 2006: Blair B'stard Project, written by Marks and Gran. By this time B'Stard had left the floundering Conservatives and become a Labour MP. Following a successful two-month run in London's West End at The Trafalgar Studios in 2007, a heavily re-written version toured theatres nationwide, with Marks and Gran constantly updating the script to keep it topical. However, Mayall succumbed to chronic fatigue and flu in May 2007, and withdrew from the show. Alan B'Stard was played by his understudy, Mike Sherman during his hiatus.

Mayall was cast as the poltergeist Peeves, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first of the Harry Potter films in 2001. Comments by Mayall suggest material for the role was filmed and shown in cinemas but then never released to the public on any subsequent release for no apparent reason. He tells the story of this hiring/firing on his second website blog for his 2008 film, . For Evil Calls, he shot his role as Winston the Butler in 2002, when the film was titled Alone in the Dark. The film was not completed until 2008 and was released under its new 'Evil Calls' title to distance itself from the Alone in the Dark computer game movie. He may appear in a possible sequel. Mayall provides the voice of the Andrex puppy in the UK TV commercials for Andrex toilet paper, and also has a voice part in the UK Domestos cleaning product adverts. He performs the voice of King Arthur in the children's television cartoon series King Arthur's Disasters, alongside Matt Lucas (Little Britain) who plays Merlin. Mayall also had a recurring role in the Channel Five remake of the lighthearted drama series, Minder.

In 2009, Mayall recorded an England football anthem called 'Noble England' for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Coventry producer Dave Loughran. Mayall performs an adapted speech from Shakespeare's Henry V on the track. In September that same year, Mayall played a supporting role in the British television programme 'Midsomer Murders' shown on Meridian Broadcasting as 'David Roper', a recovering party animal and tenuous friend of the families in and around Chettham Park House. On 26 April 2010, Motivation Records released Mayall's England Football anthem Noble England. On 7 June 2010 the BBC Match Of The Day compilation CD (2010 Edition)was released by Sony/Universal featuring Noble England - Track 18, CD2.

In September 2010, Cutey and the Sofaguard, a surreal audiobook written by Chris Wade and narrated by Rik Mayall was released by Wisdom Twins Books as a download on The Wisdom Twins site, I Tunes and the digital market. "It just came out of the blue, this book," Rik said in an interview with Hound Dawg Magazine, "which really suits my style. I just read the book and I thought it was just magnificent. It’s very funny yes but it’s also very weird. I had never seen a script like Cutey and the Sofaguard before." Rik was especially taken by two characters in the audiobook, the Wisdom Twins. In the same interview Rik said, "The Wisdom Twins, within Cutey and the Sofaguard are my absolute favourite characters. They play so well. Anyway. So when I hear my performance of the Wisdom Twins I think there he is, that's who I want to be. And it’s not merely a repeat of old Richie accents or Rik accents. They have facets of them yes, but it’s very much like James Brown doing his third single, like Little Richard doing his forth single, it’s like Lee Brilleaux doing She Does it Right! OK, I got it now, I think, YEAH NOW I GOT IT, THAT’S WHAT BEING IN YOUR FIFTIES IS ALL ABOUT!" He can currently be heard playing the voice of Roy’s Dad in cult animation Dog Judo. He has recorded five episodes, the first one airing on http://www.dogjudo.com on Thursday 30 September 2010.

Personal life

Family

Since 1985 Mayall has been married to former Scottish make-up artist Barbara Robbin, with whom he has three children: Rosie (born 1986), Sidney (born 1988) and Bonnie (born 18 September 1995). The couple met in 1981 while filming A Kick Up The Eighties. At the time, Mayall was in a long-term relationship with Lise Mayer. Mayall and Robbin embarked on a secret affair which lasted until 1985. Mayall and Robbin immediately eloped to Barbados. Mayer would later suffer a miscarriage. Mayall maintains that, despite a longstanding feud, he and Mayer are now friends. Mayall's daughter Bonnie and her cousin had asked him to take them for a ride on the bike — a Christmas gift from his wife — but he refused due to rain, and went alone. Mayall's wife Barbara looked out the window and saw him lying on the ground with the bike, believing he was joking. He was in a coma for several days. Mayall was airlifted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, with two hematomas and a fractured skull. During the following 96 hours, Mayall was kept sedated to prevent movement which could cause pressure on his brain. His family was warned he could die or have brain damage.

After five days doctors felt it safe to bring Mayall back to consciousness. In his 2005 spoof biography, Mayall claims he "rose from the dead". During Mayall's hospitalisation, the Comic Strip special Four Men in a Car was broadcast for the first time. The film involves Mayall's character being hit by a car. Mayall believed he was held hostage at the hospital. After transfer to hospital in London, he took a taxi home but was taken back that day after being sedated. He was to take medication for a year to prevent epileptic seizures. Mayall stopped taking it. He had epileptic seizures. During one, he bit through his tongue. He is now on medication for life. Mayall returned to work with voice-over work. His first post-accident job was in the 1998 Jonathan Creek Christmas special, as DI Gideon Pryke. Mayall and Edmondson have joked about this event in stage versions of Bottom, Edmondson quipping: 'If only I'd fixed those brakes properly'. The pair wrote the first draft of their feature film Guest House Paradiso while Mayall was hospitalised. They planned to co-direct but Edmondson took on the duties himself.

Recognition

In the 2005 poll The Comedian's Comedian, Mayall was voted among the top 50 comedy performers of all time.

In 2008, Mayall was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Exeter.

In the 2010 poll "Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians", Mayall was placed 91.

Filmography

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Just For the Record (2010)

Cutey and the Sofaguard (2010)

Filthy Rich & Catflap,

Valiant (2005)

Chaos & Cadavers (2003)

Chilly Dogs (2001)

Kevin of the North

(2000)

*

A Monkey's Tale (1999)

Le château des singes / The Castle of Monkeys

(1999)

Escape to Watership Down (1999)

Journey to Watership Down (1999)

Winter on Watership Down (1999)

(1998)

The Canterville Ghost (1997)

Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis (1997)

Carry On Columbus (1992)

Drop Dead Fred (1991)

Full Bottom (3-Disc Series) (1991)

Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Mr Jolly Lives Next Door (1987)

(1987)

Eat the Rich (1987)

The New Statesman (4-Disc Series) (1987)

The Black Adder (1983)

The Young Ones (3-Disc Series) (1982)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Shock Treatment (1981)

References

External links

Unofficial Website

Interview with Rik Mayall on Theatre.com

(http://www.scribd.com/doc/37736644/Hound-Dawg-Issue-10-RIK-MAYALL-INTERVIEW)

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Old Vigornians Category:Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Category:The Comic Strip Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:People from Droitwich Spa Category:People from Harlow Category:People with epilepsy

Name	Langston Hughes
Caption	Hughes, photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1936
Birthdate	February 01, 1902
Birthplace	Joplin, MissouriUnited States
Deathdate	May 22, 1967
Deathplace	New York City, New York,United States
Occupation	poet, columnist, dramatist, essayist, lyricist, novelist
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	African American, White American and Native American
Education	Lincoln University of Pennsylvania
Period	1926–1964

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "Harlem was in vogue".

Biography

Ancestry and childhood

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, the second child of school teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and her husband James Nathaniel Hughes (1871–1934). Both parents were mixed race, and Langston Hughes was of African American, European American and Native American descent. He grew up in a series of Midwestern small towns. Both his paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African American, and both his paternal and maternal great-grandfathers were white: one of Scottish and one of Jewish descent. Hughes was named after both his father and his grand-uncle, John Mercer Langston who, in 1888, became the first African American to be elected to the United States Congress from Virginia. Hughes' maternal grandmother Mary Patterson was of African American, French, English and Native American descent. One of the first women to attend Oberlin College, she first married Lewis Sheridan Leary, also of mixed race. He joined the men in John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 and died from his wounds.

In 1869 Mary Patterson Leary married again, into the elite, politically active Langston family. Her second husband was Charles Henry Langston, of African American, Native American, and Euro-American ancestry. He and his younger brother John Mercer Langston worked for the abolitionist cause and helped lead the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in 1858.

Charles Langston later moved to Kansas where he was active as an educator and activist for voting and rights for African Americans. Hughes' father left his family and later divorced Carrie. He went to Cuba, and then Mexico, seeking to escape the enduring racism in the United States. After the separation of his parents, while his mother travelled seeking employment, young Langston was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother Mary Patterson Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. Through the black American oral tradition and drawing from the activist experiences of her generation, Mary Langston instilled in the young Langston Hughes a lasting sense of racial pride. He spent most of childhood in Lawrence, Kansas. After the death of his grandmother, he went to live with family friends, James and Mary Reed, for two years. Because of the unstable early life, his childhood was not an entirely happy one, but it was one that heavily influenced the poet he would become. Later, Hughes lived again with his mother Carrie in Lincoln, Illinois, who had remarried when he was still an adolescent, and eventually in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended high school. The Hughes' home in Cleveland was sold in foreclosure in 1918; the 2.5-story, wood-frame house on the city's east side was sold at a sheriff's auction in February for $16,667.

While in grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois, Hughes was elected class poet. Hughes stated in retrospect he thought it was because of the stereotype that African Americans have rhythm. "I was a victim of a stereotype. There were only two of us Negro kids in the whole class and our English teacher was always stressing the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everyone knows, except us, that all Negroes have rhythm, so they elected me as class poet." During high school in Cleveland, Ohio, he wrote for the school newspaper, edited the yearbook, and began to write his first short stories, poetry, and dramatic plays. His first piece of jazz poetry, "'When Sue Wears Red", was written while he was still in high school. It was during this time that he discovered his love of books. From this early period in his life, Hughes would cite as influences on his poetry the American poets Paul Laurence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg. neighborhood of Washington, D.C.]]

Relationship with father and Columbia

Hughes had a very poor relationship with his father. He lived with his father in Mexico for a brief period in 1919. Upon graduating from high school in June 1920, Hughes returned to live with his father, hoping to convince him to provide money to attend Columbia University. Hughes later said that, prior to arriving in Mexico again: "I had been thinking about my father and his strange dislike of his own people. I didn't understand it, because I was a Negro, and I liked Negroes very much. Initially, his father had hoped for Hughes to attend a university abroad, and to study for a career in engineering. On these grounds, he was willing to provide financial assistance to his son. James Hughes did not support his son's desire to be a writer. Eventually, Hughes and his father came to a compromise and Hughes would study engineering, so long as he could attend Columbia. His tuition provided, Hughes left his father after more than a year of living with him. While at Columbia in 1921, Hughes managed to maintain a B+ grade average. He left in 1922 because of racial prejudice within the institution, and his interests revolved more around the neighborhood of Harlem than his studies, though he continued writing poetry. .

Adulthood

Hughes worked various odd jobs, before serving a brief tenure as a crewman aboard the S.S. Malone in 1923, spending six months traveling to West Africa and Europe. In Europe, Hughes left the S.S. Malone for a temporary stay in Paris.

During his time in England in the early 1920s, Hughes became part of the black expatriate community. In November 1924, Hughes returned to the U. S. to live with his mother in Washington, D.C. Hughes again found work doing various odd jobs before gaining white-collar employment in 1925 as a personal assistant to the historian Carter G. Woodson at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Not satisfied with the demands of the work and its time constraints that limited his writing, Hughes quit to work as a busboy in a hotel. It was while working as a busboy that Hughes would encounter the poet Vachel Lindsay. Impressed with the poems Hughes showed him, Lindsay publicized his discovery of a new black poet. By this time, Hughes' earlier work had already been published in magazines and was about to be collected into his first book of poetry. The following year, Hughes enrolled in Lincoln University, a historically black university in Chester County, Pennsylvania. There he became a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, a black fraternal organization founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Thurgood Marshall, who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was an alumnus and classmate of Langston Hughes during his undergraduate studies at Lincoln University.

Hughes earned a B.A. degree from Lincoln University in 1929. He then moved to New York. Except for travels to the Soviet Union and parts of the Caribbean, Hughes lived in Harlem as his primary home for the remainder of his life. Some academics and biographers today believe that Hughes was homosexual and included homosexual codes in many of his poems, similar in manner to Walt Whitman, whose work Hughes cited as another influence on his poetry. Hughes' story "Blessed Assurance" deals with a father's anger over his son's effeminacy and queerness. To retain the respect and support of black churches and organizations and avoid exacerbating his precarious financial situation, Hughes remained closeted.

Arnold Rampersad, the primary biographer of Hughes, determined that Hughes exhibited a preference for other African-American men in his work and life. However, Rampersad denies Hughes' homosexuality in his biography as well. Rampersad comes to the conclusion that Hughes was probably asexual and passive in his sexual relationships. He did, however show a respect and love for his fellow white man (and woman). Still, others argue for Hughes' homosexuality: his love of black men is evidenced in a number of reported unpublished poems to an alleged black male lover.

Death

On May 22, 1967, Langston Hughes died from complications after abdominal surgery, related to prostate cancer, at the age of 65. His ashes are interred beneath a floor medallion in the middle of the foyer leading to the auditorium named for him within the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. The design on the floor covering his cremated remains is an African cosmogram titled Rivers. The title is taken from the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Hughes. Within the center of the cosmogram and precisely above the ashes of Hughes are the words My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Career

First published in The Crisis in 1921, the verse that would become Hughes' signature poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", appeared in his first book of poetry The Weary Blues in 1926: Hughes' life and work were enormously influential during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s alongside those of his contemporaries, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Richard Bruce Nugent, and Aaron Douglas, who, collectively (with the exception of McKay), created the short-lived magazine Fire!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists.

Hughes and his contemporaries were often in conflict with the goals and aspirations of the black middle class, and of those considered to be the midwives of the Harlem Renaissance, W. E. B. Du Bois, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and Alain LeRoy Locke, whom they accused of being overly fulsome in accommodating and assimilating eurocentric values and culture for social equality. A primary expression of this conflict was the former's depiction of the "low-life", that is, the real lives of blacks in the lower social-economic strata and the superficial divisions and prejudices based on skin color within the black community. Hughes wrote what would be considered the manifesto for him and his contemporaries published in The Nation in 1926, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" The younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly, too. The tom-tom cries, and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain free within ourselves.

Hughes was unashamedly black at a time when blackness was démodé, and he didn’t go much beyond the themes of black is beautiful as he explored the black human condition in a variety of depths. His main concern was the uplift of his people, of whom he judged himself the adequate appreciator, and whose strengths, resiliency, courage, and humor he wanted to record as part of the general American experience. Thus, his poetry and fiction centered generally on insightful views of the working class lives of blacks in America, lives he portrayed as full of struggle, joy, laughter, and music. Permeating his work is pride in the African American identity and its diverse culture. "My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America and obliquely that of all human kind," Hughes is quoted as saying. Therefore, in his work he confronted racial stereotypes, protested social conditions, and expanded African America’s image of itself; a “people’s poet” who sought to reeducate both audience and artist by lifting the theory of the black aesthetic into reality. An expression of this is the poem "My People":

The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people

Beautiful, also, is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people. Moreover, Hughes stressed the importance of a racial consciousness and cultural nationalism devoid of self-hate that united people of African descent and Africa across the globe and encouraged pride in their own diverse black folk culture and black aesthetic. Langston Hughes was one of the few black writers of any consequence to champion racial consciousness as a source of inspiration for black artists. His African-American race consciousness and cultural nationalism would influence many foreign black writers, such as Jacques Roumain, Nicolás Guillén, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Aimé Césaire. With Senghor and Césaire and other French-speaking writers of Africa and of African descent from the Caribbean like René Maran from Martinique and Léon Damas from French Guiana in South America, the works of Hughes helped to inspire the concept that became the Négritude movement in France where a radical black self-examination was emphasized in the face of European colonialism. Langston Hughes was not only a role model for his calls for black racial pride instead of assimilation, but the most important technical influence in his emphasis on folk and jazz rhythms as the basis of his poetry of racial pride.

In 1930, his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon Gold Medal for literature. The protagonist of the story is a boy named Sandy whose family must deal with a variety of struggles imposed upon them due to their race and class in society in addition to relating to one another. Hughes's first collection of short stories came in 1934 with The Ways of White Folks. These stories provided a series of vignettes revealing the humorous and tragic interactions between whites and blacks. Overall, these stories are marked by a general pessimism about race relations, as well as a sardonic realism. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935.

The same year Hughes established his theater troupe in Los Angeles, his ambition to write for the movies materialized when he co-wrote the screenplay for Way Down South. Further hopes by Hughes to write for the lucrative movie trade were thwarted because of racial discrimination within the industry. Through the black publication Chicago Defender, Hughes in 1943 gave creative birth to Jesse B. Semple, often referred to and spelled Simple, the everyday black man in Harlem who offered musings on topical issues of the day. He received offers to teach at a number of colleges, but seldom did. In 1947, Hughes taught at Atlanta University. Hughes, in 1949, spent three months at University of Chicago Laboratory Schools as a visiting lecturer. He wrote novels, short stories, plays, poetry, operas, essays, works for children, and, with the encouragement of his best friend and writer, Arna Bontemps, and patron and friend, Carl Van Vechten, two autobiographies, The Big Sea and I Wonder as I Wander, as well as translating several works of literature into English.

During the mid−1950s and −1960s, Hughes' popularity among the younger generation of black writers varied as his reputation increased worldwide. With the gradual advancement toward racial integration, many black writers considered his writings of black pride and its corresponding subject matter out of date. They considered him a racial chauvinist. He in turn found a number of writers like James Baldwin lacking in this same pride, overintellectualizing in their work, and occasionally vulgar.

Hughes wanted young black writers to be objective about their race, but not to scorn it or flee it. He understood the main points of the Black Power movement of the 1960s, but believed that some of the younger black writers who supported it were too angry in their work. Hughes's work Panther and the Lash was posthumously published in 1967 and was intended to show solidarity and understanding with these writers, but with more skill and devoid of the most virile anger and terse racial chauvinism some showed toward whites. Hughes still continued to have admirers among the larger younger generation of black writers, whom he often helped by offering advice and introducing them to other influential persons in the literature and publishing communities. This latter group, including Alice Walker, whom Hughes discovered, looked upon Hughes as a hero and an example to be emulated in degrees and tones within their own work. One of these young black writers observed of Hughes, "Langston set a tone, a standard of brotherhood and friendship and cooperation, for all of us to follow. You never got from him, 'I am the Negro writer,' but only 'I am a Negro writer.' He never stopped thinking about the rest of us."

Political views

Hughes, like many black writers and artists of his time, was drawn to the promise of Communism as an alternative to a segregated America. Many of his lesser-known political writings have been collected in two volumes published by the University of Missouri Press and reflect his attraction to Communism. An example is the poem "A New Song".

In 1932, Hughes became part of a group of blacks who went to the Soviet Union to make a film depicting the plight of African Americans in the United States. The film was never made, but Hughes was given the opportunity to travel extensively through the Soviet Union and to the Soviet-controlled regions in Central Asia, the latter parts usually closed to Westerners. While there, he met African-American Robert Robinson, living in Moscow and unable to leave. In Turkmenistan, Hughes met and befriended the Hungarian polymath Arthur Koestler. Hughes also managed to travel to China and Japan before returning to the States.

Hughes' poetry was frequently published in the CPUSA newspaper and he was involved in initiatives supported by Communist organizations, such as the drive to free the Scottsboro Boys. Partly as a show of support for the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil War, in 1937 Hughes traveled to Spain as a correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-American and other various African-American newspapers. Hughes was also involved in other Communist-led organizations like the John Reed Clubs and the League of Struggle for Negro Rights. He was more of a sympathizer than an active participant. He signed a statement in 1938 supporting Joseph Stalin's purges and joined the American Peace Mobilization in 1940 working to keep the U.S. from participating in World War II.

Hughes initially did not favor black American involvement in the war because of the persistence of discriminatory U.S. Jim Crow laws existing while blacks were encouraged to fight against Fascism and the Axis powers. He came to support the war effort and black American involvement in it after deciding that blacks would also be contributing to their struggle for civil rights at home.

Hughes was accused of being a Communist by many on the political right, but he always denied it. When asked why he never joined the Communist Party, he wrote "it was based on strict discipline and the acceptance of directives that I, as a writer, did not wish to accept." In 1953, he was called before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Following his appearance, he distanced himself from Communism and was subsequently rebuked by some who had previously supported him on the Radical Left. Over time, Hughes would distance himself from his most radical poems. In 1959 his collection of Selected Poems was published. He excluded his most controversial work from this group of poems.

Stage and film depictions

Hughes' life has been depicted in many stage and film productions. Hannibal of the Alps by Michael Dinwiddie and Paper Armor by Eisa Davis are plays by African-American playwrights which deal with Hughes' sexuality. In the 1989 film, Looking for Langston, British filmmaker Isaac Julien claimed Hughes as a black gay icon — Julien thought that Hughes' sexuality had historically been ignored or downplayed. In the film Get on the Bus, directed by Spike Lee, a black gay character, played by Isaiah Washington, invokes the name of Hughes and punches a homophobic character while commenting, "This is for James Baldwin and Langston Hughes." Film portrayals of Hughes include Gary LeRoi Gray's role as a teenage Hughes in the 2003 short subject film Salvation (based on a portion of his autobiography The Big Sea) and Daniel Sunjata as Hughes in the 2004 film Brother to Brother. Hughes' Dream Harlem, a documentary by Jamal Joseph, examines Hughes' works and environment.

Literary archives

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University holds the Langston Hughes papers (1862–1980) and the Langston Hughes collection (1924–1969) containing letters, manuscripts, personal items, photographs, clippings, artworks, and objects that document the life of Hughes. The Langston Hughes Memorial Library on the campus of Lincoln University, as well as at the James Weldon Johnson Collection within the Yale University also hold archives of Hughes' work. .

Honors and awards

1943, Lincoln University awarded Hughes an honorary Litt.D.

1960, the NAACP awarded Hughes the Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievements by an African American.

1961 National Institute of Arts and Letters.

1963 Howard University awarded Hughes an honorary doctorate.

1973, the first Langston Hughes Medal was awarded by the City College of New York.

1979, Langston Hughes Middle School was created in Reston, Virginia.

1981, New York City Landmark status was given to the Harlem home of Langston Hughes at 20 East 127th Street () by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and 127th St. was renamed Langston Hughes Place.

2002 The United States Postal Service added the image of Langston Hughes to its Black Heritage series of postage stamps.

2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Langston Hughes on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

The Weary Blues, Knopf, 1926

Fine Clothes to the Jew, Knopf, 1927

The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations, 1931

Dear Lovely Death, 1931

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, Knopf, 1932

Scottsboro Limited: Four Poems and a Play, Golden Stair Press, N.Y., 1932

Let America Be America Again, 1938

Shakespeare in Harlem, Knopf, 1942

Freedom's Plow, 1943

Fields of Wonder, Knopf, 1947

One-Way Ticket, 1949

Montage of a Dream Deferred, Holt, 1951

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes, 1958

Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz, Hill & Wang, 1961

The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times, 1967

The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Knopf, 1994

Novels and short story collections

Not Without Laughter. Knopf, 1930

The Ways of White Folks. Knopf, 1934

Simple Speaks His Mind. 1950

Laughing to Keep from Crying, Holt, 1952

Simple Takes a Wife. 1953

Sweet Flypaper of Life, photographs by Roy DeCarava. 1955

Tambourines to Glory 1958

The Best of Simple. 1961

Simple's Uncle Sam. 1965

Something in Common and Other Stories. Hill & Wang, 1963

Short Stories of Langston Hughes. Hill & Wang, 1996

Non-fiction books

The Big Sea. New York: Knopf, 1940

Famous American Negroes. 1954

I Wonder as I Wander. New York: Rinehart & Co., 1956

A Pictorial History of the Negro in America, with Milton Meltzer. 1956

Famous Negro Heroes of America. 1958

Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP. 1962

Major plays by Hughes

Mule Bone, with Zora Neale Hurston. 1931

Mulatto. 1935 (renamed The Barrier, an opera, in 1950)

Troubled Island, with William Grant Still. 1936

Little Ham. 1936

Emperor of Haiti. 1936

Don't You Want to be Free? 1938

Street Scene, contributed lyrics. 1947

Tambourines to glory. 1956

Simply Heavenly. 1957

Black Nativity. 1961

Five Plays by Langston Hughes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963.

Jericho-Jim Crow. 1964

Works for children

Popo and Fifina, with Arna Bontemps. 1932

The First Book of the Negroes. 1952

The First Book of Jazz. 1954

Marian Anderson: Famous Concert Singer. with Steven C. Tracy 1954

The First Book of Rhythms. 1954

The First Book of the West Indies. 1956

First Book of Africa. 1964

Further reading

The Langston Hughes Reader. New York: Braziller, 1958.

Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings by Langston Hughes. Lawrence Hill, 1973.

The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2001.

Notes

See also

Langston Hughes Society

Harlem Renaissance

African American literature

Pan-Africanism

Négritude

References

External links

Yale College Lecture on Langston Hughes audio, video and full transcripts from Open Yale Courses

Poems by Langston Hughes at PoetryFoundation.org

The Collected Works of Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes on Poets.org With poems, related essays, and links, from the Academy of American Poets

A Centennial Tribute to L. Hughes at Howard University

Representative Poetry Online, University of Toronto

A selection of Langston Hughes's more political poetry

Langston Hughes Elementary School, Lawrence, KS, including photos and texts of the writer

Smithsonian "The Music in Poetry: Langston Hughes & His use of the Blues"

The Langston Hughes Papers Digital collection from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University

Langston Hughes & His Poetry, Library of Congress

The Worlds of Langston Hughes, Ford Foundation Report

The Negro Artist and The Racial Mountain by Langston Hughes

Beinecke Library,Yale University, Langston Hughes at 100

Langston Hughes in Lawrence, KS: Photographs & Biographical Resources

An Analization of Langston Hughes

Phat African American Poetry Book

Sweet Flypaper of Life with Roy DeCarava

Langston Hughes – "Dream Deferred,"Clip from the Langston Hughes program the Voices & Visions video

Langston Hughes Papers on deposit at Yale

America's Library, Library of Congress, Langston Hughes

I Hear America Singing, PBS.ORG

Obituary of Langston Hughes, The New York Times

Atrium where the ashes of Langston Hughes reside in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem

List of previewable works on Google Book Search by and concerning Langston Hughes

"My Adventures as a Social Poet" by Langston Hughes on NegroArtist.com

Langston Hughes FBI File

Modern American Poetry

Category:African American dramatists and playwrights Category:African American novelists Category:African American poets Category:African American writers Category:American novelists Category:Americans of European descent Category:American poets Category:American people of Native American descent Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Columbia Engineering alumni Category:Deaths from prostate cancer Category:Gay writers Category:Jazz poetry Category:Langston family Category:LGBT African Americans Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni Category:Literary collaborators Category:Native American writers Category:People from Joplin, Missouri Category:People from New York City Category:People from Staten Island Category:People from Union County, New Jersey Category:Writers from Missouri Category:1902 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:Harmon prize winners Category:Spingarn Medal winners Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:Deaths from surgical complications

Name	Kanye West
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 08, 1977Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr Hudson, Pusha T, Big Sean
Url

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums have received numerous awards, including a cumulative twelve Grammys, All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Music career

Early career (1996–2003)

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album didn't attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998-1999 he produced for well known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000 however when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album . West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life" he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time. Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The sophomore album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." The current status of this project is unknown. In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

Graduation (2007)

.]] In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

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On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

Glow in the Dark Tour, 808s & Heartbreak (2008–09)

in Chicago]]

West kicked off the Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.

Along with Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis, and others, West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne (2010–present)

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. The short film debuted consecutively on VH1, MTV, and BET on October 23, 2010.

Watch The Throne, an upcoming collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, is scheduled to be released by Def Jam Recordings in 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop. He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H.A.M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had been straining, significantly influenced by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills physician Andre Aboolian had advised Donda West not to have surgery because of a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Musical style and influences

(left)]] At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s . West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life". and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He is due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Controversies

Media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Award shows

Later in 2006, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears hasn't had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off the record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. He posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she didn't accept the song, he would perform it himself.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009. West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at a hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside a nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Discography

; Studio albums

The College Dropout (2004)

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

; Live albums

''Late Orchestration (2006)

(2010)

; Collaboration albums Watch The Throne (2011) (with Jay-Z)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American bloggers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Julian Curry
Birthdate	December 08, 1937
Birthplace	Devon, England

Julian Curry born 8 December 1937, in Devon, England, is a British actor best known for playing Claude Leonard Erskine-Browne in ITV's comedy-drama Rumpole of the Bailey.

The son of William Burnlee Curry and his wife Marjorie Graham (née McIldowie) Curry, he made his first television appearance in 1965 in an episode of the series For Whom the Bell Tolls. Other TV appearances include roles in Softly, Softly (1968), Z-Cars (1965 & 1975), The Glittering Prizes (1976), The Onedin Line (1976), Rumpole of the Bailey (1975–1995), A Fine Romance (1982), Lytton's Diary (1885–86), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1991), Kavanagh QC (1997), and Midsomer Murders (2004).

Curry's film appearances include Smashing Time (1967), Legacy of Blood (1978), Escape to Victory (1981), Mysteries of Egypt (1998), and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004). His appearances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, include roles in Macbeth (1965), Doctor Faustus (1969), Much Ado About Nothing (1969), and Pleasure and Repentance (1976). He has also toured with the Old Vic Company.

Curry is also a freelance member of the Circle of Wine Writers, holding a Diploma from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. He has released a Naxos audiobook A Guide to Wine.

He was married to actress Sheila Reid but the marriage was dissolved.

Notes

External links

Category:1937 births Category:English actors Category:English television actors Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:Living people

Name	Johnny Tillotson
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 20, 1939Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Instrument	singing
Genre	country, pop
Occupation	singer, songwriter
Years active	Since 1957
Url	JohnnyTillotson.com

Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored several Top Ten hits including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'." He also sang "Yellow Bird" an adaptation of the Haitian song Choucoune.

Life and career

He is the son of Doris and Jack Tillotson, a country music disc jockey, and was raised from the age of 9 in Palatka, Florida. He began to perform at local functions and on his father's radio station as a child, and while attending Palatka Senior High School developed a local reputation as a talented singer. He became a regular on the Toby Dowdy regional TV show in Jacksonville, and then had his own TV show on WDGA-TV. In 1957, while studying at the University of Florida, he entered a national talent contest and won through to the final round in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was heard by Archie Bleyer, owner of the independent Cadence Records. Bleyer signed Tillotson to a three-year contract, and issued his first single, "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man" in September 1958. Both songs had been written by Tillotson, and both made the Billboard Hot 100, "Dreamy Eyes" peaking at # 63. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Communications, Tillotson moved to New York City to pursue his music career.

From late 1959, a succession of singles - "True True Happiness," "Why Do I Love You So," and a double-sided single covering the R&B; hits "Earth Angel" and "Pledging My Love" - all reached the bottom half of the Hot 100. His biggest success came with his sixth single, the up-tempo "Poetry in Motion", written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, and recorded in Nashville with session musicians including saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer. Released in September 1960, it went to # 2 on the Hot 100 in the US, and # 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1961. On Bleyer's advice, Tillotson focused primarily on his recording career, but also appeared on television and began to be featured as a teen idol in magazines. His follow-up record, "Jimmy's Girl," only reached # 25 in the US charts and # 43 in the UK; after that, "Without You" returned him to the US Top Ten but failed to make the UK charts. |- | rowspan="2"| 1958 | "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man"* | align="center"| 63 / 87* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | "I'm Never Gonna Kiss You" (with Genevieve) | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | 1959 | "True True Happiness" | align="center"| 54 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | rowspan="3"| 1960 | "Why Do I Love You So" | align="center"| 42 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="4"| This Is Johnny Tillotson |- | "Earth Angel" / "Pledging My Love"* | align="center"| 57 / 63* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Poetry in Motion" | align="center"| 2 | align="center"| 27 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 1 |- | rowspan="2"| 1961 | "Jimmy's Girl" | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 43 |- | "Without You" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson's Best |- | rowspan="6"| 1962 | "Dreamy Eyes" (re-issue) | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'" | align="center"| 3 | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 31 | rowspan="5"| It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" | align="center"| 17 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 21 |- | "What'll I Do?" | align="center"| 106 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" | align="center"| 89 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 8 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 41 |- | rowspan="4"| 1963 | "Out of My Mind" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 34 | Greatest |- | "You Can Never Stop Me Loving You" | align="center"| 18 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Judy, Judy, Judy |- | "Talk Back Trembling Lips" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Funny How Time Slips Away" | align="center"| 50 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 16 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | rowspan="5"| 1964 | "I'm a Worried Guy" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Please Don't Go Away" | align="center"| 112 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Rise, I Fall" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| The Tillotson Touch |- | "Worry" | align="center"| 45 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| 36 | align="center"| — |- | "She Understands Me" | align="center"| 31 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | She Understands Me |- | rowspan="4"| 1965 | "Angel" | align="center"| 51 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 33 | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | "Then I'll Count Again" | align="center"| 86 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| - | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| That's My Style |- | "Heartaches by the Number" | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 14 | align="center"| — |- | "Our World" | align="center"| 70 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 23 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | rowspan="5"| 1966 | "I Never Loved You Anyway" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Country Boy" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings Tillotson |- | "What Am I Gonna Do" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | No Love at All |- | "Open Up Your Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | "Christmas Country Style" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Christmas Touch |- | rowspan="3"| 1967 | "Tommy Jones" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Here I Am |- | "Don't Tell Me It's Raining" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "You're the Reason" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 48 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Best of Johnny Tillotson |- | rowspan="3"| 1968 | "I Can Spot a Cheater" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 63 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Singles only |- | "Why So Lonely" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Letter to Emily" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1969 | "Tears on My Pillow" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 94 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Tears on My Pillow |- | "Joy to the World" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Raining in My Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1970 | "Susan" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | "I Don't Believe in If Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1971 | "Apple Bend" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1970) |- | "Welfare Hero" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Make Believe" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="7"| Singles only |- | rowspan="3"| 1973 | "Your Love's Been a Long Time Comin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "If You Wouldn't Be My Lady"^A | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Love How She Needs Me" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1974 | "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1975 | "Mississippi Lady" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Right Here in Your Arms" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1976 | "Summertime Lovin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1977) |- | 1977 | "Toy Hearts" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 99 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1979 | "Poetry in Motion" (re-issue) / "Princess Princess" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 67 | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | 1984 | "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 91 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |}

^A"If You Wouldn't Be My Lady" peaked at #77 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

References

External links

Johnny Tillotson official website

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:Songwriters from Florida Category:MGM Records artists Category:Apex Records artists Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida Category:University of Florida alumni