Accomplished poet and playwright Ntozake Shange will deliver the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture for the Assembly Series at 4 p.m. Thurs., April 8th in Graham Chapel. Her talk is free and open to the public. The chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., on the Washington University campus.
Shange is best known for her unique “choreopoem” for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, published in 1975. Considered radical at the time for its message of feminism and Black female empowerment, for colored girls was written as a group of 20 poems for seven actors, and blended music, dance and poetry. It ran off-Broadway for seven months before making it to Broadway at the Booth Theatre. It won several awards, including an Obie Award for Best Drama, an Outer Circle Award, and several Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award nominations.
Described as passionate and fearless by reviewers and critics, for colored girls reveal what it is to be of color and female in the 20th century. It was praised by The New Yorker for “encompassing…every feeling and experience a woman has ever had… It will be read and performed for generations to come.”
Shange has written extensively on the lives and desires of African-American women throughout history, including books of poetry such as The Love Space Demands: A Continuing Saga; A Daughter’s Geograph;y and Nappy Edges. Her novels include Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo; Betsey Brown; and Liliane. She has received several awards, including a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and a Pushcart Prize.
Although known for her writing, Shange sees herself in a variety of roles, including dancer, actor, director, lecturer and African-American feminist. Growing up in a family that entertained friends such as Paul Robeson, W.E. B. DeBois, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington had a strong impact on Shange’s life and work.
She received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in American studies from the University of Southern California. She has taught at several universities, including California State College, the City College of New York, the University of Houston, Rice University, Yale and New York University.
The Martin Luther King Jr. King Lecture is an annual Assembly Series lecture sponsored by the Association of Black Students that seeks to bring speakers who address civil rights issues.
For more information on the Assembly Series lecture, call (314) 935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series web page (assemblyseries.wustl.edu).