# Lucille Clifton

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American poet (1936–2010)

For the leader of the Gitga'ata people, see [Lucille Clifton ('Wii Nii Puun)](/source/Lucille_Clifton_('Wii_Nii_Puun)).

Lucille Clifton Born Thelma Lucille Sayles (1936-06-27)June 27, 1936 Depew, New York, US Died February 13, 2010(2010-02-13) (aged 73) Baltimore, Maryland, US Education Howard University State University of New York, Fredonia Occupation Writer Spouse Fred James Clifton (d. 1984) Awards Robert Frost Medal (2010)

**Lucille Clifton** (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010)[1] was an American poet, writer, and educator from [Buffalo](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York), New York.[2][3][4] From 1979 to 1985 she was [Poet Laureate of Maryland](/source/Poet_Laureate_of_Maryland). Clifton was a finalist twice for the [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize) for poetry.[5]

## Life and career

Lucille Clifton (born Thelma Lucille Sayles, in [Depew](/source/Depew%2C_New_York), New York)[6] grew up in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from [Fosdick-Masten Park High School](/source/Fosdick-Masten_Park_High_School) in 1953.[7] She attended [Howard University](/source/Howard_University) with a scholarship from 1953 to 1955, leaving to study at the [State University of New York at Fredonia](/source/State_University_of_New_York_at_Fredonia) (near Buffalo).[7]

In 1958, Lucille Sayles married [Fred James Clifton](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fred_James_Clifton&action=edit&redlink=1), a professor of philosophy at the [University at Buffalo](/source/University_at_Buffalo), and a sculptor whose carvings depicted African faces. Lucille and her husband had six children together, and she worked as a claims clerk in the New York State Division of Employment, Buffalo (1958–60), and then as literature assistant in the Office of Education in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) (1960–71). Writer [Ishmael Reed](/source/Ishmael_Reed) introduced Lucille to Clifton while he was organizing the Buffalo Community Drama Workshop. Fred and Lucille Clifton starred in the group's version of *[The Glass Menagerie](/source/The_Glass_Menagerie)*, which was called "poetic and sensitive" by the *Buffalo Evening News*.

In 1966, Reed took some of Clifton's poems to [Langston Hughes](/source/Langston_Hughes), who included them in the second edition of his anthology *The Poetry of the Negro* (1970). In 1967, the Cliftons moved to [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore%2C_Maryland), Maryland.[7] Her first poetry collection, *Good Times*, was published in 1969, and listed by *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* as one of the year's ten best books. A selection of sixteen poems from *Good Times* were featured in the *[Massachusetts Review](/source/Massachusetts_Review)*, Vol. 10, No. 1, her first publication. From 1971 to 1974, Clifton was poet-in-residence at [Coppin State College](/source/Coppin_State_University) in Baltimore. From 1979 to 1985, she was [Poet Laureate](/source/Poet_Laureate) of the state of [Maryland](/source/Maryland).[8] From 1982 to 1983, she was visiting writer at the Columbia University School of the Arts and at [George Washington University](/source/George_Washington_University). In 1984, her husband died of cancer.[7]

From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the [University of California, Santa Cruz](/source/University_of_California%2C_Santa_Cruz).[9] She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at [St. Mary's College of Maryland](/source/St._Mary's_College_of_Maryland). From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University). In 2006, she was a fellow at [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College). She died in Baltimore on February 13, 2010.

In 2019, daughter Sidney Clifton reacquired the family's home near Baltimore, aiming to establish the Clifton House as a place to support young artists and writers through in-person and virtual workshops, classes, seminars, residencies, and a gallery. The Clifton House received preservation funding through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.[10]

## Poetic work

Plaque quoting Clifton outside the [New York Public Library](/source/New_York_Public_Library)

Lucille Clifton traced her family's roots to the West African kingdom of [Dahomey](/source/Dahomey), now the [Republic of Benin](/source/Republic_of_Benin). Growing up, she was told by her mother, "Be proud, you're from Dahomey women!"[11] She cites as one of her ancestors the first black woman to be "legally hanged" for manslaughter in the state of [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky) during the time of [Slavery in the United States](/source/Slavery_in_the_United_States). Girls in her family are born with an extra finger on each hand, a genetic trait known as [polydactyly](/source/Polydactyly). Lucille's two extra fingers were amputated surgically when she was a small child, a common practice at that time for reasons of superstition and social stigma. Her "two ghost fingers" and their activities became a theme in her poetry and other writings. Health problems in her later years included painful [gout](/source/Gout) which gave her some difficulty in walking.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Often compared to [Emily Dickinson](/source/Emily_Dickinson) for her short line length and deft rhymes,[12] Clifton wrote poetry that "examine[d] the inner world of her own body", used the body as a "theatre for her poetry". After her uterus was removed, for example, she spoke of her body "as a home without a kitchen".[13] In a *[Christian Century](/source/Christian_Century)* review of Clifton's work, Peggy Rosenthal wrote, 'The first thing that strikes us about Lucille Clifton's poetry is what is missing: capitalization, punctuation, long and plentiful lines. We see a poetry so pared down that its spaces take on substance, become a shaping presence as much as the words themselves.'[14]

Her series of children's books about a young black boy began with 1970's *Some of the Days of Everett Anderson.* Everett Anderson, a recurring character in many of her books, spoke in [African-American English](/source/African-American_English) and dealt with real life social problems. Clifton's work features in anthologies such as *My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Black Poetry* (ed. Arnold Adoff), *A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today* (ed. Catherine Clinton), *Black Stars: African American Women Writers* (ed. [Brenda Scott Wilkinson](/source/Brenda_Scott_Wilkinson)), *[Daughters of Africa](/source/Daughters_of_Africa)* (ed. [Margaret Busby](/source/Margaret_Busby)), and *Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology* (eds Lauret E. Savoy, [Eldridge M. Moores](/source/Eldridge_M._Moores), and Judith E. Moores ([Trinity University Press](/source/Trinity_University_(Texas)#Trinity_University_Press)). Studies about Clifton's life and writings include *Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton* (LSU Press, 2004) by Hilary Holladay, and *Lucille Clifton: Her Life and Letters* (Praeger, 2006) by Mary Jane Lupton.

### Early volumes

In 1969, Clifton published her first volume of poetry, *Good Times,* which drew inspiration from her six young children at the time. The book would go on to make the *New York Times* list of the best books of the year. Three years later in 1972, Clifton published her second volume, *Good News About the Earth: New Poems*. The [Poetry Foundation](/source/Poetry_Foundation) has noted that this work pointed towards the trend Clifton would develop in her career of not shying away from social and political issues in her writing as she paid tribute to Black political leaders. Moving into her third collection, Clifton began investigating her identity as a woman and as a poet with *An Ordinary Woman* just two years later in 1974.

### *Two-Headed Woman*: "homage to my hips"

In 1980, Clifton published "homage to my hips" in her book of poems, *Two-Headed Woman*. *Two-Headed Woman* won the 1980 [Juniper Prize](/source/Juniper_Prize) and was characterized by its "dramatic tautness, simple language … tributes to blackness, [and] celebrations of women", which are all traits reflected in the poem "homage to my hips".[15] This particular collection of poetry also marks the beginning of Clifton's interest in depicting the "transgressive black body".[16] "homage to my hips" was preceded by the poem "homage to my hair" – and acts as a complementary work that explores the relationship between African-American women and men and aimed to reinvent the negative stereotypes associated with the black female body. "Homage to my hips" and "homage to my hair" both relate the African-American body to mythological powers – a literary technique common among many literary works by African-American women. Jane Campbell poses the idea that "the specific effect of mythmaking upon race relations … constitutes a radical act, inviting the audience to subvert the racist mythology that thwarts and defeats Afro-Americans, and to replace it with a new mythology rooted in the black perspective."[17] Therefore, Clifton utilizes "homage to my hips" to celebrate the African-American female body as a source of power, sexuality, pride, and freedom.

### *Quilting: Poems 1987–1990*

Published in 1991, this collection of Clifton's treated a quilt as an extended metaphor for life, with each poem representing a different story that is "stitched" into the collection The poems are divided into sections getting their names from different quilting techniques.[18]

### *The Book of Light*

In 1993, Clifton's newest collection dived head first into wrestling with bigotry, social justice, and human rights. This collection is marked by a controversial poem addressing U.S. Senator [Jesse Helms](/source/Jesse_Helms) who had a reputation of "actively opposing civil rights, voting rights, disability rights, women's rights and gay rights".[19]

### *Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988–2000*

In 2000, Clifton published this book, which compiles four of her previous collections along with new poems. The book delves into Clifton's personal fight against breast cancer as well as involves itself with mythology, religion, and the legacy of slavery. In "dialysis", Clifton writes "after the cancer i was so grateful/ to be / alive. i am alive and furious. / Blessed be even this?"

Clifton uses this book – and much more of her work – to defy stereotypes and misconceptions of African-American women.[20] She also writes about abortion and death in this book with poems like "the lost baby poem", where she writes "eyes closed when they should have been open/ eyes open when they should have been closed/ will accuse me for unborn babies/and dead trees."

## Awards and recognition

Lucille Clifton received a Creative Writing Fellowships from the [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts) in 1970 and 1973, and a grant from the [Academy of American Poets](/source/Academy_of_American_Poets). She received the Charity Randall prize, the Jerome J. Shestack Prize from the *[American Poetry Review](/source/American_Poetry_Review)*, and an [Emmy Award](/source/Emmy_Award). Her children's book *Everett Anderson's Good-bye* won the 1984 [Coretta Scott King Award](/source/Coretta_Scott_King_Award).[21] In 1988, Clifton became the first author to have two books of poetry named finalists for one year's [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize). (The award dates from 1981, the announcement of finalists from 1980.)[22] She won the 1991/1992 [Shelley Memorial Award](/source/Shelley_Memorial_Award), the 1996 [Lannan Literary Award for Poetry](/source/Lannan_Literary_Award_for_Poetry), and for *Blessing the Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000* the 2000 [National Book Award for Poetry](/source/National_Book_Award_for_Poetry).[23]

From 1999 to 2005, she served on the Board of Chancellors of the [Academy of American Poets](/source/Academy_of_American_Poets). In 2007, she won the [Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize](/source/Ruth_Lilly_Poetry_Prize); the $100,000 prize honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition". When awarding Clifton with this prize, judges remarked: "One always feels the looming humaneness around Lucille Clifton's poems—it is a moral quality that some poets have and some don't."[18] This testifies to Clifton's reputation as a poet whose work focuses on overcoming adversity, family, and endurance from the perspective of an African-American woman.

In 2010, Clifton received the [Robert Frost Medal](/source/Robert_Frost_Medal) for lifetime achievement from the [Poetry Society of America](/source/Poetry_Society_of_America).[24][25]

## Works

### Poetry collections

- *Good Times*, New York: Random House, 1969

- *Good News About the Earth*, New York: Random House, 1972

- *An Ordinary Woman*, New York: Random House, 1974)

- *Two-Headed Woman*, [University of Massachusetts Press](/source/University_of_Massachusetts_Press), Amherst, 1980

- *Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir: 1969–1980*, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1987 — finalist for the 1988 [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize)[22]

- *Next: New Poems*, Brockport: [BOA Editions, Ltd.](/source/BOA_Editions%2C_Ltd.), 1987 — finalist for the 1988 [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize)[22]

- *Ten Oxherding Pictures*, Santa Cruz: Moving Parts Press, 1988

- *Quilting: Poems 1987–1990*, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1991, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-918526-81-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-918526-81-6)

- *[The Book of Light](/source/The_Book_of_Light)*, Port Townsend: [Copper Canyon Press](/source/Copper_Canyon_Press), 1993

- *[The Terrible Stories](/source/The_Terrible_Stories)*, Brockport: BOA Editions, 1996

- *[Blessing The Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000](/source/Blessing_the_Boats)*, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-880238-88-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-880238-88-2); Paw Prints, 2008, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4395-0356-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4395-0356-0) —winner of the [National Book Award](/source/National_Book_Award)[23]

- [*Mercy*](/source/Mercy_(poetry_collection)), Rochester: BOA Editions, 2004, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-929918-55-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-929918-55-3)

- [*Voices*](/source/Voices_(poetry_collection)), Rochester: BOA Editions, 2008, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-934414-12-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-934414-12-5)

- *The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton*, Rochester: BOA Editions, 2012, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-934414-90-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-934414-90-3)

### Children's books

Rear Admiral [J. Scott Burhoe](/source/J._Scott_Burhoe) reads *Three Wishes*, by Clifton, to a first-grade class at Nathan Hale Elementary in honor of [African American History Month](/source/Black_History_Month), February 12, 2010.

- *Three Wishes* (Doubleday)

- *The Boy Who Didn't Believe In Spring* (Penguin)

- *The Lucky Stone*. Delacorte Press. 1979. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-440-05122-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-440-05122-0).; Reprint Yearling Books, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-307-53795-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-307-53795-9)

- *The Times They Used To Be* (Henry Holt & Co)

- *All Us Come Cross the Water* (Henry Holt)

- *My Friend Jacob* (Dutton)

- *Amifika* (Dutton)

- *Sonora the Beautiful* (Dutton)

- *The Black B C's* (Dutton)

- *The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children*. Introduction by Lucille Clifton (San Val)

### The Everett Anderson series

- *Everett Anderson's Goodbye* (Henry Holt)

- *One of the Problems of Everett Anderson* (Henry Holt)

- *Everett Anderson's Friend* (Henry Holt)

- *Everett Anderson's Christmas Coming* (Henry Holt)

- *Everett Anderson's 1-2-3* (Henry Holt)

- *Everett Anderson's Year* (Henry Holt)

- *Some of the Days of Everett Anderson* (Henry Holt)

- *Everett Anderson's Nine Month Long* (Henry Holt)

### Nonfiction

- *Generations: A Memoir*, New York: Random House, 1976, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-394-46155-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-394-46155-7)

## See also

- [List of U.S. state poets laureate](/source/List_of_U.S._state_poets_laureate)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Rey_1-0)** Rey, Jay (February 13, 2010). ["Clifton, honored poet from Buffalo, dies"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100217040153/http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/955670.html). *The Buffalo News*. Archived from [the original](https://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/955670.html) on February 17, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Obituary *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, February 17, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Obituary *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*, February 21, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Obituary *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*, February 21, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** David Gura, ["Poet Lucille Clifton: 'Everything Is Connected'"](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124113507), NPR, February 28, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Alexander, Elizabeth, ["Remembering Lucille Clifton"](http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/remembering-lucille-clifton), *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*, February 17, 2010.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Years,_Hilary_Holladay_2010,_p.48_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Years,_Hilary_Holladay_2010,_p.48_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Years,_Hilary_Holladay_2010,_p.48_7-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Years,_Hilary_Holladay_2010,_p.48_7-3) Holladay, Hilary, *73 Poems for 73 Years*, James Madison University, September 21, 2010, p. 48.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MSA_8-0)** ["Maryland Poets Laureate"](http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/poet.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210514221913/https://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/poet.html) 2021-05-14 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), webpage of [Maryland State Archives](http://www.msa.md.gov/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120930092520/http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/mo/former/html/msa02709.html) September 30, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Retrieved May 27, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MWHF_9-0)** Maryland State Archives and Maryland Commission for Women. ["Lucille Clifton"](http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshall/html/clifton.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121009161850/http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshall/html/clifton.html) October 9, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 28, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Amy Stolls and Jessica Flynn, ["The Clifton House: A Labor of Love and Legacy"](https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2020/clifton-house-labor-love-and-legacy), *National Endowment for the Arts blog*, July 30, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Lupton (2006), p. 60.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Robbins, Hollis (February 16, 2010). ["An Appreciation of Lucille Clifton"](https://www.theroot.com/an-appreciation-of-lucille-clifton-1790878599). *The Root*. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 9, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Fay, Blue (February 4, 2021). ["Late poet Lucille Clifton still speaks to the COVID era"](https://www.dailycal.org/2021/02/04/late-poet-lucille-clifton-still-speaks-to-the-covid-era/). *[The Daily Californian](/source/The_Daily_Californian)*. Retrieved February 13, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Lucille Clifton"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lucille-clifton#:~:text=Clifton%20is%20noted%20for%20saying,punctuation%2C%20long%20and%20plentiful%20lines.). *Poetry Foundation*. In a *Christian Century* review of Clifton's work, Peggy Rosenthal wrote, 'The first thing that strikes us about Lucille Clifton's poetry is what is missing: capitalization, punctuation, long and plentiful lines. We see a poetry so pared down that its spaces take on substance, become a shaping presence as much as the words themselves.'

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Jessie Carney Smith, *Notable Black American Women, Book 2* (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996), 110.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Michael Bennett, Vanessa D. Dickerson, *Recovering the Black Female Body: Self-representations by African American Women* (New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 2001), 127.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Bennett & Dickerson, *Recovering the Black Female Body* (2001), 126.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Poetry_Foundation_bio_18-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Poetry_Foundation_bio_18-1) ["Lucille Clifton 1936–2010"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lucille-clifton). *Poetry Foundation*. 21 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Curtis, Mary C.](/source/Mary_C._Curtis) (December 6, 2012). ["Jesse Helms is Still Stirring Up Controversy"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/12/06/jesse-helms-is-still-stirring-up-controversy/). *The Washington Post*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Ward, Bianca. ["Review Blessing the Boats"](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/167834/Review%20Blessing%20the%20Boats.pdf;sequence=1). *Voices from the Gaps*. The University of Minnesota.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Coretta Scott King Book Awards - All Recipients, 1970-Present | Coretta Scott King Roundtable"](https://www.ala.org/cskbart/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present#1984). *www.ala.org*. Retrieved 2024-10-22.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pulitzer_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pulitzer_22-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-pulitzer_22-2) ["Fiction"](http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Fiction). *Past winners & finalists by category*. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved April 8, 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nba2000_23-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nba2000_23-1) ["National Book Awards – 2000"](https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2000). [National Book Foundation](/source/National_Book_Foundation). Retrieved April 8, 2012. (With acceptance speech by Clifton and essay by Megan Snyder-Kamp from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Lucille Clifton Awarded Centennial Frost Medal"](https://www.boaeditions.org/blogs/main/71612293-lucille-clifton-awarded-centennial-frost-medal). *BOA Blog*. January 23, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["2010 Frost Medalist | Lucille Clifton"](https://poetrysociety.org/award-winners/2010-frost-award). Poetry Society of America.

## Further reading

- Holladay, Hilary, *Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton*, Louisiana State University Press, 2004, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8071-2987-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8071-2987-6)

- Lupton, Mary Jane, *Lucille Clifton: her life and letters*, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-275-98469-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-275-98469-9)

- Howard, Carol, "Lucille Clifton", "World Poets", Vol. 1. Scribner Writer Series, 2000, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-684-80591-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-684-80591-X) (set)

- Cole, Barbara, "let love be at the end: Lucille Clifton's literary legacy", 2016, appears on pages 169–176 of "[Right Here, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology](https://beltpublishing.com/products/right-here-right-now-the-buffalo-anthology)", edited by Jody K. Biehl, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9977742-6-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9977742-6-9)

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Lucille Clifton](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Lucille_Clifton)***.

- [Clifton's Page at BOA Editions](https://web.archive.org/web/20110516123134/http://www.boaeditions.org/authors/clifton/)

- [Biography and critical appreciation of her work, and links to poems](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lucille-clifton) at the Poetry Foundation.

- ["'Since you asked..,' with Lucille Clifton"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070821154949/http://openvault.wgbh.org/ntw/MLA000368/index.html) for the WGBH series, [New Television Workshop](https://web.archive.org/web/20090416225624/http://openvault.wgbh.org/series/New+Television+Workshop/)

- [Lucille Clifton reads "Turning"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070820134039/http://openvault.wgbh.org/ntw/MLA000296/index.html) for the WGBH series, [New Television Workshop](https://web.archive.org/web/20090416225624/http://openvault.wgbh.org/series/New+Television+Workshop/)

- ["Jean Toomer's Cane and the Rise of the Harlem Renaissance"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140513230758/http://ragazine.cc/2013/08/jean-toomer-cane/). Essay by Lucille Clifton.

- ["Lucille Clifton Reads A Poem About the Days Surrounding Sept. 11"](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec06/poem_09-08.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140101175153/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec06/poem_09-08.html) January 1, 2014, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), PBS, September 8, 2006. (Audio)

- [Recorded in Los Angeles, CA, on May 21, 1996](http://podcast.lannan.org/2010/02/22/lucille-clifton-reading/). From Lannan (Video 45 mins).

- [Profile at Modern American Poetry](http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/poets/a_f/clifton/clifton.htm), University of Illinois

- [Profile from Academy of American Poets](http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/79)

- [Lucille Clifton](https://lccn.loc.gov/n79089567) at the [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress), with 51 library catalog records

- [FBI file on Lucille Clifton](https://archive.org/details/LucilleCliftonFBIFile)

v t e Maryland Women's Hall of Fame 1980s 1985 Margaret Brent Rachel Carson Rita C. Davidson Gladys Spellman Harriet Tubman 1986 Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson Elizabeth Ann Seton Henrietta Szold Jeanette Rosner Wolman Hiltgunt Zassenhaus 1987 Clara Barton Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Juanita Jackson Mitchell Mary Shaw Shorb Helen B. Taussig 1988 Barbara Mikulski Sadie Kneller Miller Mary Eliza Risteau Martha Carey Thomas Verda Welcome 1989 Bertha Adkins Eugenie Clark Lavinia Engle Lena King Lee Estelle R. Ramey 1990s 1990 Lucille Maurer Enolia McMillan Pauli Murray Adele Hagner Stamp Mary Lemist Titcomb 1991 Rita R. Colwell Mary Elizabeth Lange Claire McCardell Bessie Moses Alta Schrock 1992 Annie Armstrong Anna Ella Carroll Rose Kushner Margaret Collins Schweinhaut Carmen Delgado Votaw 1993 Rosalyn Blake Bell Lucille Clifton Elizabeth King Ellicott Jean Spencer Martha Ellicott Tyson 1994 Rosalie Silber Abrams Mary Elizabeth Banning Harriet Elizabeth Brown Connie Morella Mary Adelaide Nutting 1995 Jill Moss Greenberg Mary L. Nock Amanda Taylor Norris Nettie Barcroft Taylor Euphemia Mary Goldsborough Willson 1996 Madeleine L. Ellicott Ethel Ennis Mary Digges Lee Brigid G. Leventhal Barbara A. Robinson 1997 Diane L. Adams Sol del Ande Mendez Eaton Catherine R. Gira Helen L. Koss Rosa Ponselle 1998 Constance Ross Beims Mary Katharine Goddard Elaine Ryan Hedges Mary Carter Smith 1999 Florence Riefle Bahr Lillian C. Compton Edith Houghton Hooker Elizabeth Fran Johnson Bernice Smith White 2000s 2000 Constance Uriolo Battle Lois Green Carr Sonia Pressman Fuentes Josephine Jacobsen Rosetta Stith 2001 Kathleen Feeley Misbah Khan Charmaine Krohe Eunice Kennedy Shriver Sandra W. Tomlinson 2002 Mabel Houze Hubbard Florence P. Kendall Mary Young Pickersgill Lorraine Sheehan 2003 Virginia Walcott Beauchamp Edith Clarke Kathryn J. DuFour Ruth L. Kirschstein Etta Haynie Maddox Debbie Yow 2004 Edmonson sisters Nancy Grasmick Esther McCready Margaret Byrd Rawson Vivian V. Simpson 2005 Shoshana Shoubin Cardin Bessie Olive Cole Susan R. Panny Edyth H. Schoenrich 2006 Susan Pardee Baker Liebe Sokol Diamond Bea Gaddy Marilyn Hughes Gaston Rebecca Alban Hoffberger Grace Snively 2007 Annette M.Deener Sally T. Grant Prasanna Nair Karen H. Rothenberg Audrey E. Scott 2008 Ramona McCarthy Hawkins Ellen Moses Heller Billie Holiday Pauline Menes Toby Orenstein Emily Wilson Walker 2009 Ilia Fehrer Diane Griffin Harriet Legum Allyson R. Solomon Anne St. Clair Wright 2010s 2010 Claire M. Fraser Anne Catherine Hoof Green Irene Morgan Kirkaldy Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps Bernice R. Sandler Lillie D. Shockney 2011 Carol W. Greider Barbara Holdridge Ligia Peralta Gertrude Poe Lucy Diggs Slowe June A. Willenz 2012 Maureen Black Margaret Dunkle Nancy Kopp Alice Manicur Diana Gribbon Motz Gwendolyn Rooks 2013 Helen Delich Bentley Jean B. Cryor Charlene Dukes Ellen Sauerbrey Linda A. Shevitz Beatrice P. Tignor 2014 Dorothy F. Bailey Agnes Kane Callum Renee E. Fox Susan K. Goering Henrietta Lacks Ann Cipriano Rees 2015 Beverly B. Byron E. Gail de Planque Mary S. Feik Katherine O'Brien Linda L. Singh Sue Fryer Ward 2016 Sophia Arabatzis Balis Oretha Bridgwaters-Simms Mary C. Goodwillie Elaine Danforth Harmon Joanne Katz Lizette Woodworth Reese 2017 Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Carolyn Colvin Donna Edwards Mary Garrett Katharine Blodgett Gebbie Katie Ledecky Helen Maroulis Lilian Welsh 2018 Sandra I. Barnes Sandra Williams Ortega Emily Saunders Plummer Rita L. Robinson Hattie N. Washington 2019 Marielsa A. Bernard Augusta T. Chissell Dominique Dawes Virginia Hall Rosa Gumataotao Rios Evelyn Williams Townsend Phyllis B. Trickett Pauline Woo Tsui 2020s 2020 Victorine Q. Adams Evelyn O. A. Darden Claire Parkinson Nancy Roman Leslie R. Wolfe 2021 Elizabeth Bobo Margaret Hawkins Ruby Reese Moone Nancy K. Welker Celeste Revillon Winans 2022 Dorothy Blum Mary L. Cleave Gloria Richardson Beatrice Rodgers Odessa M. Shannon 2023 Janeen L. Birckhead Charlotte M. Cooksey Ana Sol Gutierrez Gloria G. Lawlah Jackie Ronne 2024 Adrienne A. Jones Susan C. Lee Brooke Lierman Aruna Miller Nancy Pelosi 2025 Donna Abbott Maggie McIntosh Joseline Peña-Melnyk Kathleen Kennedy Townsend 2026 Sharon Camp Wendy Chun-Hoon Annunciata Lombardi D'Alesandro Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Elda Devarie Delores G. Kelley Emily Perez Susan Turnbull

v t e Poets laureate of Maryland Maria B. Coker (1959–1962) Vincent Godfrey Burns (1962–1979) Lucille Clifton (1979–1985) Reed Whittemore (1985–1988) Linda Pastan (1991–1995) Roland Flint (1995–2000) Michael Collier (2001–2004) Michael S. Glaser (2004–2009) Stanley Plumly (2009–2018) Grace Cavalieri (2018–present)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Italy Czech Republic Spain Poland Israel Catalonia Artists MusicBrainz People Trove Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lucille Clifton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Clifton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Clifton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.