Cornelius Eady facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cornelius Eady
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Reading at Folger Shakespeare Library, 2014
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| Born | 1954 (age 70–71) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Co-founded Cave Canem Foundation |
Cornelius Eady (born 1954) is an American writer. He writes a lot about how people are treated based on their race and how society works. His poems often feature jazz and blues music. They also talk about family life and problems in society related to race and social class. People often like his poems because they use simple and easy-to-understand language.
About Cornelius Eady
Cornelius Eady was born in Rochester, New York. He has written seven books of poetry. Many of his poems have a musical feel, like Blues and Jazz music.
He has received many awards for his writing. These include the Strousse Award and a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award. He also received special Fellowships from important groups like the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Eady has worked with jazz composer Deirdre Murray. Together, they created several musical plays. Some of these plays are You Don't Miss Your Water and Brutal Imagination. His poems can also be found in Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts.
In 1996, Eady and another poet named Toi Derricotte started something special. They founded the Cave Canem Foundation. This group helps and supports black poets.
Cornelius Eady has taught writing at many colleges. These include Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and the University of Notre Dame. He was also a professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Currently, he lives in Knoxville, TN. He works at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He is married to the writer Sarah Micklem.
His Books of Poetry
Cornelius Eady's first book of poems was called Kartunes. It came out in 1980. After that, he published several more poetry books.
One of his books, Victims of the Latest Dance Craze, won an award in 1985. It received the Lamont Poetry Prize. Other books he wrote include BOOM, BOOM, BOOM: A Chapbook and The Gathering of My Name. He also wrote You Don't Miss Your Water and the autobiography of a jukebox.
His book Brutal Imagination was very popular. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry in 2001.
Brutal Imagination
Brutal Imagination is one of Eady's most well-known books. It has two parts, both about the experiences of black men in America.
The first part of the book is also called "Brutal Imagination." It tells a story from the point of view of an "imaginary black man." This character represents how people can be unfairly blamed or imagined to be guilty because of their race. The poems explore what this "imaginary man" might think or say if he could speak.
The second part of the book is called "Running Man." This section looks at African-American families. It talks about the challenges and unfair barriers people face because of their race or social class. The "Running Man" character stands for any African-American male who has faced these kinds of difficulties.
