Letters and Notes Collection

The James A. Emanuel Project’s Letter Collection contains ninety-seven pages of letters with two-main purposes. The first purpose is to provide an intimate view into Emanuel’s life and writings through letters to mentors, colleagues, collaborators, and friends. As such, the correspondences between Emanuel and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1967 are an outlier in this collection. The second purpose is to offer a glimpse into how his reputation and career developed in community with others.

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—or Dr. Douglas Watson—(cont’d) 4. Is there a major shift in my activity from scholar-educator to poet? Yes, there is. I do not intend to write any more prose, and I have had that intention since the mid-70s. I have succumbed to too few requests to write prose since then: for example, Caliban at the University of Toulouse; for the December 1979 conference of the Spanish Jesuits for Anglo-American Studies, Cuadernos de Comunicación, Spain; and the two recent autobiographical works. But in the future I shall write only poetry unless I try some short fiction or a one-act play. The reason is twofold: I believe in poetry as the ultimate expression of an individual’s appreciation of human life; and I think disproportionately more people can excel me in writing scholarship than in writing poetry. Regarding future books to come, I intend to offer a book of poetry (partly new, partly selected from very recent pieces of mine), already my Villa Milla of 1962. Since I have not been “at home” in Latin America since 1971 (when I finished my part of How I Write, recortando Jorge Jovdanovic), I anticipate writing no poetry during my remaining two years at CCNY. 5. The reason behind my contented stay in France. It is true that I have been able to write poetry—and more steadily—in France than in the USA. It is also true that I desired to return to the country where I was earlier a Fulbright fellow, and where it is not likely that I shall return again, even though the Embassy graciously offered to help me secure reading tours in that region. I returned to France in 1971 and in 1978 (after living six months in London) because it was in France that I first felt that no one would regard me as anything else but another human being. In the U.S., I always knew—after becoming an adult—that about ninety percent of my countrymen, as well as the federal, state, and local governments, were ready to deprive me of my rights as a citizen for the slightest opportunistic reason, or perhaps just for whimsical reasons. Also, there looms behind my stay in France the miasma of “the DuBroff case”—detailed in Snowflakes and Steel—which, try as I might, I cannot erase from my consciousness. And I should not be able to erase it, I now understand, somewhat in contrast to the conclusion of my poem “White-Belly Justice’s New York Souvenir.” I have always believed, and I confirmed it in my life behind the Iron Curtain, that a man must stand up for what he believes, cost what it may. I believe in fair play and in justice, both of which were denied me in the DuBroff case. I further believe that a country that denies a citizen the application of its basic laws forfeits its right to that citizen’s affection, and is even unworthy of that citizen’s residence. It is ironically irrelevant to the reasonableness of my attitude that I also conclude that no other country has a better claim to my allegiance. So I actually regard myself as an Earth-citizen, as a man without a country. Nothing could reverse my feeling except future actions by New York courts to redress the wrongs done to me; but since I have so little faith in that legal system, wherever Black people are concerned, I see no likelihood of an attempt on my part to remedy the harm already done. 6. The connection with poetry. My contempt for the mentalities of learned men who countenance such abuses turns into a creative energy that enables me, once in a while, to compose poetry about it. Fortunately, that poetry has consistently been termed “powerful,” “disturbing,” or has been otherwise acknowledged by readers as effective. As a poet, I am willing to undergo the foul memories if the artistic result is indeed artistic rather than simply personal “protest.” It is likely that I shall return to France again. At any rate, I do not intend to stay in America after leaving CCNY, unless a remarkable and totally unforeseen change occurs. As a poet—and I must always come back to that perspective—I admit a curiosity about the possibility of that miracle, convertible into literary art; and if it should occur, it would be useful for me to be on the scene, somewhat incredulous but with my antennae out and my typewriter ready.
"13-20 May 45 2 cld Lts crossing with us. Lts Jones & Brown, attacked by white paratroopers in Manila nightclub while being told by manager of segregation, viz, that nite no cld GI’s allowed. 2 June 45 Cld soldier of 269th shot at while back was turned by white guard, who ordered him to abstain fr buying fruits for natives. Soldier obeyed. Armed Guards, white, surrounded cld tents and searched all duffel bags, etc. for ammunition. "
"Notes re Army Service O’seas 16 Mar 45 For Devens 21 Mar 45 Ar Go Beale, Calif 2 Apr 45 Ar Go Stoneham, Calif 6 Apr 45 For Frisco (0900) 8 Apr 45 “ “ “ 11 Apr 45 “ “ “ 20 Apr 45 “ “ (1030) 26 Apr 45 Finchshaven, N.G. 2 May 45 Ar Hollandia, N.G. 13 May 45 Ar 269 Repl Co., 5th Repl. Depot, 711 20-27 May 45 Mbrs of my guard detail accosted by 3 white solders, one cut on fore- head, and threatened with loaded carbines (2 mbrs) "
"Oklahoma Baptist University ABU March 15, 1983 Dear Jim, I am beginning to believe in some sort of mental telepathy regarding our communication. I have spent the past two days working on our department's new word processor, writing a paper entitled ""James Emanuel: Negro Poet to Earth—Citizen” for the Popular Culture Association conference in April in Wichita KS. This afternoon I finished the piece in its draft form, typed in the command to print it out on a line printer in the library, then walked by the campus post office on my way to the library to pick up the copy. What should I find in my box but your note of the 10th. You have been on my mind much lately, and not just because of the paper. I have been intending to write, to find out if your plans to be back at City College for this year and next had materialized, My interim class in January (a course in Black literature focused primarily on Richard Wright) read your book A Chisel in the Dark, Also, I have had inquiry within the week about the copy of the manuscript which the Hubbell Center had sent me as I prepared to do the DLB essay. What I told the people at Duke is what I must tell you: the work on the DLB volume has been very slow; apparently the editors have had delays (of choice or of necessity, I do not know) in preparing final copy, I had a promise of a proof text of the essay a month ago, but have not yet received it. Neither have I had much luck in getting them to respond to my. inquiries So, I am waiting, and I hope that the book is done soon. I receive with sorrow the news of your son’s death. Your poetic record of his childhood and adolescence will stand as a tribute to him, but cannot, alas, bring him back or undo the wrongs committed against him and thousands of other young black men and women. I look forward to seeing A Poet’s Mind. I will also b e looking for the Burroughs book. Are the poems in it new ones? When I wrote you last, I declined to look at your current poems in order to retain a frame for my comments in the DLB essay. Since beginning the project, I have wondered about the feasability of a longer, perhaps book--length study of your poetic life (to include, of course, the early years). I still am very interested in pursuing such a project, though the form it would take is still rather hazy in my mind. If you are interested in such a thing, perhaps we could talk about it before too long. I may be in Connecticut for the summer, and that could offer a chance for us to meet and talk about it. Always, Doug Department of English (405) 275-2850 Shawnee, OK 74801 "
"Negro Digest 1820 SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE Chicago 16, Ill. CALUMET 5-1000 June 1, 1967 Dear Mr. Emanuel: Thank you for your letter. If it is possible for you to get the selected material to me by June 15, I would be grateful. And I would prefer that you select what you feel is appropriate for reprinting in DIGEST. Langston Hughes' death was a shock to everyone. Two writers to whom spoke on the phone upon hearing the news were in tears. He will be missed. Sincerely [signature] Hoyt W. Fuller Managing Editor Mr. James A. Emanuel 405 Nuber Avenue Mount Vernon, New York 10553 HWV/pb A JOHNSON PUBLICATION "
"Felices Pascuas Merry Christmas Joyeux Noël Frohe Weichnacten Jan 5. [1976] Dear Tim We’re just back from two running weeks in the Caudries. Glad you seem to be getting more recognition as a poet in Eastern Europe, but sorry I don’t know of any Fulbright request here in France (Paris III requested one but in economy or sociology) yet I’ll keep an eye open, although the only real possibility to talk with colleague would be the confer [indecipherable] AFEA in March and this would be too late. Not much new here, where depression also is to be felt. I’ll be going to the USA for a month in March or April to work with the Yale Univ. library who requested Wright’s papers and also to attend the ASA [indecipherable] conf. in Philadelphia. Best wishes from all of us, and keep in touch. Michel Michel FABRE 12, Square Montsouris 75014 PARIS "
"Hart Leroy Bibbs Fine Art Photography Envelope: Bibbs & Campbell 76, rue du Bac 75007 Paris/ Mr James Emanuel 55 ... 75006 Paris Paris le 20 Nov '91 Cher friend, Permit me license to call you ""friend"", because obviously an enemy wouldn’t have the good things to say about the hodge-podge collection I asked you to look at, comment upon. It's more than O.K. (your ""Appreciation"") and is far more than I was thinking at the time. You had about half of the book, or a larger portion of Ted's work. Really, brosman, I like your style a hell of a whole lot, your cool headed expression of even the most impassioned ideas. I'm all the more glad now that I have your own poetry collection and while so far I've only browsed her and there soon I'll be taking a book holiday. Ted left for ""over yonder,"" day before yesterday but I know he will be pleased with your Appreciation as much as I am. "
"Boxes, Trunks, and Darkness Sliding in their skin of darkness, tbey gorged his hallway to the door, Heaved their stillness on his sleepy eye, where he sensed them one gigantic creature prehistoric from its head (a heavy box of tools) to tail (long skis protruding past a trunk). Dinosaur...deathlike fatigue stretched out the word that tracked such lumpish footfalls to his bed, shrank it back into boxes, trunks, lay with it there in tremors, throbbing, a heartbeat faster than a man's, or a slower, massive one enraged. He slightly turned (a backward motion from the body he had made) and, held by clockbeats near it, hundred drifted back two/million years to rage that clawed the hills apart: conflict too fierce to feel till shouldergripe revived his days among tough boxes, trunks to pack; each choice, if sore (whether grudgingly keep or guiltily junk) itself a wrath, a grief, a changeless pain even when--he rose on one elbow to know it-­ the decimated lot "
Christmas 2003 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. Emanuel) Dear friends, I submit this 13th list of Christmas-card padding: Entries for year 2002: Reference book treating JAE, 2000 Outstanding Scholars of the 21st Century 1st Edition (Cambridge England: Melrose /commerical/ Press •. 29 October: Godel ieve Simons' s video documentary on JAE nears completion 1n Normandy with interviewees Nicole Lamotte (artist) and the Migrennes (Micheleand Jean). POETRY READINGS: 2003 only 13 March: Metropolitan Altitud, Espace Culturel d'Art et de Rencontre, Paris. with Chansse Evanns on tenor saxophooe. 8 April: Periplans, Rencontre des Cinemas d'Afrique, Villeneuve d'Ascq. Conference on racism in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. Read several of JAE poems on Mumia. Other participants: Julia Wright (daughter of Richard Wright), French professors, and an official from Amnesty lnternational Paris. 11 June: Shakespeare & Company Bookstore's grande tent a. dans le parc, Paris. Memorial tribute to Ted Joans. JAE reminiscences and poems on 1ed, with Jake Lamar, Michel Fabre, Jim Haynes, et al. 24 Oc t.: Deu tsch-merikanisches l nsti t dt, heidel berg, Germa ny. World Poetry Festival's special "Haiku-Nacht." Did read JAE haiku. (Idid.) POEMS. IN BOOKS: Van Gogb 1 s Ear, ed. lan Ayres of Saint-ande France. "Deadly James (For All the Victims of Police Brutality)." Regards Croises sur )es Afro-Americans, Hommage a Michel Fabre Tours: Presses de 1 'Univorsite-de Tours). Tribute to Michel plus four-part "For Michel Fabre: Four Haiku." pp. 107-108. POEMON CANADIAN CD: JAE poem "Negritude (presented as "Black is" /"Black is" or "Black" begins each of the 24 lines written in 1959/as sung" by Jalal Sunstrum on CD Slowrise with the Dawn Chorus, programmed by Reno Sensal). *vo- POEMS 01, INTERNET: several read by JAi as part of interview calized mentioned below. VISIT TO JAE BY AMERICAN STUDENTS: 23 June: (becoming an annual event, possibly) Syracuse /New York/ Univ . students in the seminar 11Paris Noir: Literature, Culture and Contemporary Life," led by Prof. Janis Mayes, fill JAE's living room for a poetry reading, JAE-related art display, and exchange of ideas. INTERVIEW ON INTERNET: From Internet's LIVEJOURNAL: " ••• the second insta1lment of Dan Schneider and Art Durkee's Omniversice " radio show ...• features expatriate poet James Emanuel ( wi tb his translattor /J ean Migrenne/ and documentarian /Godelieve Simons/ in a phone interview from Paris, France. /He/ speaks out about his career, poetry. ... race, poverty, the arts, & more." VlDEO DOCUMENTARY ON JAE: G. SImons' videotaped interviews in Paris, early July, of Jake Lamar, Jean Migrenne, John Miphan, and Robert lricoire end her series. "THE JAMES EMANUEL POETRY PRIZE" continues in The City College of New York as a JAE project to encourage young poets. JAE AS GUEST Or HONOR(Li terary) . at the November Langston Hughes Poetry Festival, CCNY, where the Festival director, lro1. Victoria Chevalier, is/was to read my essay, "Notes from an Ancestor," in my necessary absence. ART EXHIBIT WI TH SALE OF JAE POEM: 1· • . 6-28 May: Solo expo of G. Simons's engravings in offices of Secrataire d'Etat de la Region Bruxelles Capitale (Robert de la Thouwer), with sale (by multiple votes judging months of expos) of engraving bearing JAE haiku "Smooth stone"for the official national collection. Large sheets of haiku handwritten by JAE were exhibited. ' I |
Christmas 2004 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. Emanuel Dear Friends, I submit this 14th list of Christmas-card padding: POETRYREADINGS: 19 Jan.: The Live Poets Society, Paris, The Highlander Pub. Reading shared with Christopher Twigg and Ethan Gilsdorf. 30 Jan.: Librairie Anibwe Galerie & Salon, Paris. Reading accompanied by Chansse Evanns on saxophone and Marie-France Plassard reading French translations by Jean Migrenne. 15 Feb.: French Connection Press offices, Paris (celebration of publication of Van Gogh's Ear #3). Reading shared with poet Alice Notley and novelist Janet McDonald. 18 March: Ima c Improvisa tionaJ. Music Oen ter at t 'our and Taxi, Brussels (opened by this event). Reading with Noah Howard (saxophone /artistc director of IMAC/), Bobby .Few (piano), Calyer Duncan (drums), Harry Swift (bass), and Claire Maxwell (modern dance). 21 June: Percy's Place, Paris. Reading with Chansse Evanns on saxophone for special session of Syracuse University (New York) Paris Noir seminar of Professor Janis A. Mayes. A 23x30cm engraved plaque was presented to JAE expressing the "profond e gratitude" of the 11 Departement des Etudes Africaines AmEfricaines" for services to "ses etudiants et etudiantes." 21 July: Cit/ Universitaire, Faris (Maison des 1tudiants Armeniens). Reading, questions-and-answers session after Godelieve Simons's artand- photo display (JAE's illustrative haiku involved) and lecture in English on the history of engraving to these hunter College students from the City Univ. of New York and their Professor Janet Hulstrand. Video coverage by Mariel Isaacson, developing an educational film for high school students, was involved, connected with Hunter College's Summer 2004 Study Abroad Program. 8 Oct.: Le Sorrento [Restaurant], Bruxelles, Belgium. Reading, for the first time, of "Artist at My Window (Holland Park Avenue, London)," witb Godelieve Simons adding her French version, JAE closing with a cassette recording of "The Middle Passage Blues." (More haiku read.) 18 Dec.: La Nouvelle Sorbonne international conference "African America: and Diasporic Research in Europe .... in Honor of Michel and Genevieve Fabre." Brief reading to end conference. BOOK: ---WU-it de Pleine Lune, livre d'artiste made with Godelieve Simons. 7 handwritten haiku and the large engravings that inspired them. Bruxelles: Editions GRAV'iSM. POEMS IN BOOK: Cent voix pour MUMIA (Collectif Dionysien pour la Liberation de Mumia). "Writings presented to supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal at the Place de la Resistance, St. Denis, France, on 20 March." Includes my 11Le Blues d 'Abu Jamal," 11 The Middle Passage Blues," "'We Shall Overcome ... ," "C'que ART EXHIBITS SHOWING JAE' s POEMS & BOOKS: disent les vieux Negres." Le Sorrento (as above). Haiku about 5 G. Simons large photos on walls were read in English; the 6 in Rhythm in Black and White in French & Eng. 1-29 Oct. period of expo was extended. 12-28 Nov. span for JECTA below: 59th Salon JECTA, Bibliotheque communale de JETTE, Bruxelles. 4 engravings of G. Simons' s 6-part Nuu i t de pleine lune, each illus. by a JAE haiku. REFERENCE BOOKS TREATING JAE: 2000 Outstanding lntellectuals ... (Cambridge); International Who's Who in Poetry (London); The Writers Directory (St. SPECIAL EVENT: JAE' s rehearsal in London's Royal Academy of Music James). with 3 young classical musicians, English and Norwegian (the Laurie Blundell Trio, with Royal Albert Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall among their performance venues), creating background for his 11 01d Black Men Say." DISCUSSION OF JAE IN BOOK: Dudle. Randall and the Broadside Press, by Melba Joyce Boyd (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2003, seen too late for 2003 Lit. Hap. sheet. Has generous, important material on JAE.
Christmas 2005 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. Emanuel) Dear Friends, I submit this 15th list of Christmas-card padding: POETRY READINGS: 8 March: Bibl ioth'eque Anglopbone, Angers, France, . program "Beat, Black, and Blue," Englisb Language Library. Otber participants: Taran Singh ' (leads jazz band with poems by Langston Hughes), Simon Mary (contrabass), Franck Tbomelet (drums), and Pierrick Menuau (saxopbone). 19 and 20 March: week-end "Arts et Engagement," Anibwe Librairie Galerie, Paris. Afro-Caribbean artists and writers "autour de James EMANUEL ( Poete) et Cbansse EVANNS (Saxophoniste). 11 18 April: The Highlander Pub, Paris. Reading with otber poets Micbelle Noteboom and Sean Street. The Live Poets Society • .2 3 June: Festiv al franco-angla is de poesie, Paris. 11 Bilingua 1 Public Readings" at tbe cafe-restaurant Aux Trois Canettes, with Marie-France Plassard reading Frencb versions by Jean Migrenne of originals by JAE. Other poets: Luce Guilbaud, Jose Luis Reina Palazon, Dilys Rose, and Louise Warren. 4 July: Cafe Flore, Paris. Syracuse University (New York) Paris Noir seminar students witb tbeir Prof. Janis A. Mayes. Poetry reading and discussion. 20 July: Universite Paris III (Nouvelle Sorbonne). Study-abroad students witb tbeir Prof. Janet Hulstrand of Hunter College, New York. Godelieve Simons' display of, and commentary on, some of her engravings and otber art related to poems by JAE, followed by a poetry reading and discussion. POEMS IN BOOKS: (and see entry below) "Emmett Till" in Literature: Readin Reactin (Heinle Publisbers now a sworth, _ ec. 200 POEMS IN JOURNALS: Writin , 6th Edition , a college textbook. "Quick Haiku for Leo Hamalian, 11 five baiku preceded and followed by several lines of prose in ararat, Vol. XLV, No. 179 (Summer 2004), special issue Tribute to Leo Hamalian, A137. INTERVIEW OF JAE IN MAGAZINE: CiteBlack Paris (News Magazine)., No. 47, 28 fevrier 2005, page 16, witb pboto. Interview in French by Alain Diasse. POEMS IN BOOKS (contd) "Saxophone on Rue du Bae: Steve Lacy" and "Ray Cbarles, 11 p. 179 of Poetry in Performance 32 (The Print Center, Inc., New Yo.rk City, 2004 [not seen till 2005]. ART EXPOS SHOWING JAE'S WORKS: 17 Jan.-27 May: Pleon, Brussels. Engravings by Godelieve Simons, part of the Rhythm in Black and White series, tbe whole of La Nuit de la Pleine Lune, both with related or integral baiku by JAE; photos by G. Simons with illustrative haiku. 29 Oct.-13 Nov.: 60th Salon JECTA, Brussels. Cover and interior of CD Middle Passage as designed by G. Simons witb artwork and photos involving saxophonist Noab Howard, JAE reading, etc.; as well as tbe book Blues in Black and Whi te, made by JAE and G. Simons as art-with-poems. REFERENCE BOOK ESSAY ON JAE: International Wbo's Wbo in Poetry (London: 11 . Europa Publications). THE JAMES EMANUEL POETRY PRIZE" continues at Tbe City College of New York as a· JAE project to encourage young poets. Lack-of-space holdover from 2004; My "Sonnet for a Writer" as a CD "single" programmed by Renaud Sensal of Quebec City, Canada, an independent musician one of wbose recent works was the OD Slowrise, with the Dawn Chorus.
Christmas 2006 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. Emanuel) Dear Friend s , POETRY READINGS: I s ubmit this 16th list of Christmas-card padding : 20 Feb.: The Hi ghlander Pub, Paris, for The Live Poe ts Society, shared with Vivienne Vermes and H.D. Moe. (Cultural note: In 1970 or 1971, I read "Pa n t her Man"--showing my f ierce reaction to the killing by Chica go police of 2 Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark as they s l ept i n their motel beds before dawn. When I finished, the young Black men who by chance composed my audience at Bronx Community College in New York leaped to their feet in unison and roared their approval. My a udi en ce in Paris could not know that I had not read those harsh words pu blicly for 35 years, but its r eacti on was positive and almost as noisy.) 22 May: Espace Culturel de Universite d'Aogers. The "Music & Poetry Ensemble" presented 11 une toile de sons autour des poemes et blues de La ngston Hughes," some sounds being readings I bad made in Angers in 2005 . 23 June: International Poe try Festival at Na mur, Bel gi um, 21 - 24 Ju ne . Li ke oth er invited poets, I read severa l ti mes during an all-day cruise on the Meuse between Namur a nd Dinant, with Godelieve Simons reading French versions l ar ge l y by Je an Migrenne. 24 June: Same Fest i va l. As a s pecia l honored guest (the other be i ng--as represented by musicians and artists--the ex- president of Senegal, Leopold Sedar Sengbor ), I was introd uc ed by a 20- minute essay by poe t Jac que s Dema ude . "Happy Birthday" sung by the audience and a cake witb light ed candles brought t o me onstage by a pretty girl preceded my readin g , which was highli ghted, I am told., by 11 '.vbe Middle Passage Blues." POEMSIN BOOKS: 7Profils de/7 Profiles of J ames Emanuel (Bruxelles: Grav' i Si m), 124 pp. by 21 contributors, contains 7 of my pr eferred poems among approx. 400 i n print: "Emmett Till," 11 11 Deadly James ( For AJ.l the Victims of Polic e Brutality)," "The Middle Passage Blues, 11 "Nuit de Pleine Lune," "Artist at My Window, 11 11 To Martin , to Luther, to King , 11 and "Mahalia Jac kson ." Lynchings in Mi ss issippi: A His tory, 1865-1965. Julius E. Thompson uses 3 poems in bis 253-p. book, 2 by Pa ul La urenc e Dunbar and my "Emmett Till," to c onc retize bis ghastly narrative. See p. 147. The Dance . :tveryrnan's Library Foc ket Poets series . Ed. Emily Fragos. New York, London, 'l'oronto: Knopf. "Bojangles and Jo, 11 p. 197. Poetry in Performance 4 (New York: The Print Center. 11A Cabinet of Few Affec t ions,' p. 1 of this pu blication of CCNY's Spring Poetry Festival. Godelieve Simons, a 36-p. bilingual 11 Plaquette de Presentation" (Bruxelles: Ed. Grav'i Sim). Introd. Serges Goyens de Heuscb (Docteur en Histoire de l'Art en Sorbonne and creator of the Fondation pour l'Art Belge Conternporain Serges Goyens de Heuscb. G. Simons as an art i st is tbesubject of the booklet and lived the incidents sbown in "Artist a t My Window (Holland Park Avenue, London), 11 re printed therein. POEMS IN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: Groups of my poems: "I teacb literature at Schiller Int ernationa l University [in Paris]. and I include James' poetry as part of the regular curriculum," writes Prof. John Klipban (7 Profils as above, p. 86). "The Negro": used by Lipscomb Prof. Susan King in English 1123. "A Small Discovery": used in teacher's manual for the Patterns Prebraille Program (for blind and visually impaired children), Louisville ESSAY IN EDUCA TIONAL PROGRAMS: KY. "Blackness Can: A Quest for Aesthetics'': used by Prof. Daniel Muhlestein in English 495, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah. ART EXPO SHOWING MY POEMS: "Art-Event 2006, 11 24-26 Nov., at Antwerp Expo, Belgium's largest expo space, showed, among works by professional international artists, 2 engravings by G. Simons from her Nuit de Pleine Lune series of 6 works of art, accompanied by all 6 illustrative haiku by me. "THE JAMES EMANUEL POETRY PRIZE" It continaut Tehes City College of New York as my project to encourage young poets.
Christmas 2001 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. EMANUEL) Dear Friends, I submit this 11th list of Christmas-card padding: Entry known too late for prior list: Poem "Emmett Till" in The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Seventh Edition (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1998), pp.867-68, with editorial footnote and comment. POETRY READINGS: 17 Jan.: American Library in Paris. Jazz haiku reading witb saxopbonist Cbansse Evanns, as part of annual "Hommage Jazz" to Martin Luther King. 22 March: Universite de Toulouse-le Mirail, international colloquium "La Musique et les Litteratures Anglophones." Poetry reading with tenor saxophonist Yves Passarieu. 7 June: The Village Voice Bookshop, Paris. Book-signing reading and discussion to launcb Tbe Force and tbe Reckoning. 11 June: my apartment on Boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris, with 15 people crowded into one small room. Poetry reading, discussion, and display by Godelieve Simons of her engravings involving my poetry before Syracuse [New York] University students and their professor Janis A. Mayes. Partial video coverage by G. Simons. , 18 July: Cite Universitaire, Paris (Maison des Etudiants Armeniens). Poetry reading, discussion, with art display and partial video coverage by G. Simons as on 11 June, involving Hunter College students from the City Univ. of New York with Prof. Janet Hulstrand. 16 Nov.: The CEAA (Cercle d'Etudes Afro-Americaines) international conference on the writing of African-American bistory after tbe Civil Rights Movement, Tours, France, 16-18 November. Poetry reading following highlights of my published & autobiography. 23 Nov.: Circolo Gianni Bosio (Associazione Culturale), Rome, Italy. Jazz-haiku reading, with Italian versions by Riccardo Duranti, and witb accompaniment by saxophonist Paolo Innarella and cornettist Micbael Thieke. 26 Nov.: Al "Libera/ Mente," Via Dei Sabelli, 2, Rome. Haiku evening of readings by Italians and Japanese, ".con la partecipazione estraordinaria del performer J. Emanuel" (as stated by publicity). 27 Nov.: ARCI (Nuova Associazione), The Irish Public, Terni, Italy. Jazz-haiku reading and "The Middle Passage Blues," witb Italian versions by Riccardo Duranti, and witb accompaniment by cornettist Micbael Tbieke and guitarist (and harmonica player) Jesse Cahn. BOOKS: The Force and the Reckoning (autobiograpby, poetry, handwritten poem drafts, 57 photos, travel notes, bibliography) (Detroit: Lotus, Feb.). CD ( COMPACT DISC) : Middle Passage, text (42 poems) and voice, JAE; music (alto & tenor sax), Noab Howard; recorded at Al tsax Studios, May 2001, Tervuren, Belgium; artwork & photos by Godelieve Simons; sales contact, JAE, Paris. POEMS IN BOOKS: Visions & Revisions, by Barry Wallenstein and Robert Burr (New York: Broadview Preso, 2002). Biographical sketch, final versions and drafts of "Tina, Turner" and-" Bill Clinton," pp. 258-62. Poetry in Performance 29, Annual Spring Poetry Festival of CCNY (New York: The Print Center, Inc.) "Love and Sex, I" and “Love and Sex, II," P• 122. ARTWORK: Godelieve Simons's large engraving-on-wood (1 1/2x 2 meters) done with 3 Tunisian girls and JAE (names engraved as "Dhoha Ihmen Fatma, and James"), JAE's tool a hollow gouge, at the International ' Festival on the Plastic Arts in Mahares, Tunisia, 23 July-3 August. ART EXHIBITS SHOWING JAE'S POEMS & BOOKS: UFACSI (Union Feminine Artistique et Culturelle Salons lnternationaux) Centre Culturel Valery-Larbaud / Salles Pierre Coulon et Constantin' Weyer, Vichy, France, 7-30 Sept. G. Simons's Rhythm in B&W I-III. Mahares, Tunisia, festival as above. 3 xylographs from G. Simons's cycle Les Nuits de Pleine Lune. 57e Salon de JECTA, Demeure Abbatiale de Dieleghem, Jette, Belgium, 10 – 25 Nov. RB&W I-VI; GS’s cover art for JAE’s JAZZ…, The Force and Middle Passage.
POEMS IN JOURNALS (contd) Autre Sud No. 8 (mars 2000) bas French versions of these poems of mine: "The Middle Passage Blues," "After the Accident," "An Old French Dog, Barking, " "Wishes, for Alix," "Harlemi tes Talking About Movies," "Saxopbone on Rue du Bae: Steve Lacy," "Her Diary," "'I'm a Jazz Singer,' She Replied," "Love and Sex, I," "Snow People, " "Puritanical Papa," "Thinking Big," "Sculpture at Dawn," "The Ballad of Abu-Jamal," and "For Mumia Abu-Jamal: Five Haiku."
Christmas 2000 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. EMANUEL) Dear Friends, I submit this tenth list of Christmas-card padding: Entry known too late for prior list: Poem "The Voyage of Jimmy Poo" illustrated in Ashley Brian's ABC of African American Poetry (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997). Unpaged Atheneum Book. POETRY READINGS: 19 Jan.: Universite Charles de Gaulle Lille III. Poetry reading and discussion shared with novelist Jake Lamar. . 16 April: The Live Poets Society, Paris, at the "Scarbo" pub. Reading shared with John Kliphan and Glenn Shea. (Sold all books taken there.) 18 May: Le Merle Moqueur bookstore venue of the Festival franco-anglais de poesie. Poetry reading supported by Chansse Evanns, saxophonist. Others reading: Francoise Han, Patricia Nolan, and Micbel Helayel. Paris. 25 July: Cite Universitaire, Paris, reading and discussion (3 1/2hours) before study-abroad group from Hunter College of New York. (Sold 26 of 29 books taken there.) 28 Oct.: La Nouvelle Sorbonne international conference "African Diasporas in the Old and the New Worlds: Consciousness and Imagination," reading accompanied by saxophonist Chansse Evanns. Participation also in writers' roundtable with Melba Joyce Boyd, Afaa M. Weaver, et al. 23 Nov.: Herouville-Saint-Clair in Normandy, at the Cafe des Images, the French version of my "The Ballad of Abu-Jamal" was read by its translator, Jean Migrenne, at a large rally for that death-row prisoner. 4-8 Dec.: U.S. Embassy (Berlin-sponsored tour, based almost entirely on poems in JAZZ from the Haiku King: readings accompanied by musicians in Stuttgart (vibraphonist Benjamin "Fops" Wilson and contrabassist Arnold L. Wilson), Munich (saxophonist Klaus Kreuzeder), Leipzig (jazz guitarist Christian Rover), and Berlin (saxophonist Dirk Raulf), the last-named performance videotaped. POEMS IN BOOKS: Formes et Ecritures du Depart: Incursions dans les Amerigues Noires, ed. Andree-Anne KEKEH-DIKA et Helene le DANTEC-LOWRY (Paris: L'Harmattan). English versions of "Andrew's Cyclones," 23-24; "Bojangles and Jo," 85; "Jazzanatomy," 85; "Jazz on the Move (A Haiku Sequence)," 86; "Migratory Jazz," 86; and "The Middle Passage Blues," 147-48. POEMS IN JOURNALS: Black Renaissance Noire, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Winter 1999-2000). "Earl 'Fatha" Hines," "Jelly Roll Morton," "Erroll Garner," "Mahalia Jackson," and "Saxophone on Rue du Bae: Steve Lacy," 140-43. Autre Sud No. 8 (mars), Marseille. As guest poet in the "Voix d'ailleurs" section, I received space devoted to a biographical half-page and fifteen poems (French versions by Jean Migrenne), 90-103, titles appearing below after ART EXHIBITS if space remains. ART EXHIBITS SHOWING JAE'S POEMS: Fondation pour l'Art Belge Contemporain, expo "Florilegium 2," Cite Fontainas, Brussels, 11 Feb. -25 March. Godelieve Simons' engraving Rhythm in Black and White V, with illustrative haiku by me. (Hereinafter RBW V.) Volvo Cars Gent, expo "Volvo Pro Arte 54," Gent, Belgium, 20 Feb.-15 March. RBW series of 6 engravings, averaging 40cm. x 65cm. Marche Mondiale des Femmes, salle d'expo Ten Weyngaiert, "Le Parcours de Femmes," Brussels, 3-12 March. RBW III, IV, and V with my haiku. Theatre Fierre Fresnay, lOe Biennale Internationale de Gravure en Val d'Oise, expo "Linea 2000," Ermont, France, 2-16 April. One RBW engraving and photographic display of JAZZ from the Haiku King. – Accademia d'Arte di Pisa and Associazione Culturale of International Mail Art Archive, solo expo of Godelieve Simons at Saletta Kinzica, Pisa Italy, 29 April - 11 May . Engraving with "Smooth stone" haiku; RBW I-Iv; and JAZZ from the Haiku King with engraving made for it b G-Sim Arte-Fac, Universite catholique de Louvain en Woluwe, Brussels. Simons. RBW series, Blues in Black and White (poems-and-art book b G and me, 1992), Deadly James engraving, and JAZZ from the HaikuKing with its special engraving--all art by G. Simons in a one-woman show. au
Christmas 1999 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. EMANUEL) Dear Friends, POETRY READINGS: I submit this ninth list of Christmas-card padding: 13 Jan.: American Library in Paris, my jazz-blues-gospel-haiku reading to open the 11th annual Jazz Homage to Martin Luther King, accompanied by __ festi val organizer Chansse Evanns on the saxophone. 6 March: at the night club Il baffo della Gioconda, in Rome , sponsored by L'Associazione culturale Controchiave and by Acoma (Rivista internazionale di_studi nordamericani), my reading entitled by Italian organizers "Blind Date: Jazz haiku meets music," accompanied by Davide Grottelli with saxophones, and Riccardo Duranti and Anamaria Crowe Serranoreading their transla tions in I italian and Spanish. 18-21 March: The Collegium for African American Research's conference, "Black Liberation in the Americas," The Westfalische Wilhelms- Universitat in Munster, Germany, the opening-night entertainment being my jazz-blues-gospel-haiku reading with Chansse Evanns on the accompanying saxophone and Executive Board member Fritz Gysin reading Sieghild Bogumil's German translations. On 19 March at MUnster City Hall, I read poems along with Melba Joyce Boyd, Lorenzo Thomas et al. 18 April: The Live Poets Society's program at The Merry Fiddler pub in Montmartre, my poetry reading along with Gerard Mangan ( plus his own guitar accompaniment ) and George Vance. 29 April: . What a poster called "A conference with the poet" in "Ampbi 2 E 0411 turned out to be the longest reading of my lifetime: 2 h1ou/rs2 s trhaioghutr, sin clsudtinrg aquestions from the audience. Prof. Anne Luyat, who had invited me to Avignon, wrote me on 4 May, starting witb "You took tbe city by storm! ... We await your return.. .. " 6 May: Universite Charles de Gaulle Lille III, programme "Echos de la Renaissance de Harlem," ending with my reading poems by Langston Hughes and some of my own, witb saxophone music by Chansse Evanns. 4 June: Ecole Normale Superieure Fontenay-aux-roses, international poetry conference on urban, life ( in suburb of Paris), including my reading haiku with Chansse Evanns. Jean MigreBne read his French versions. 7 June: Universite de Paris VII, a II journee d' e'tudes" program called "Jazz et Litterature, 11 including a poetry-and-jazz performance by Cbansse and meresembling the Fontenay-aux-roses presentation; 10 June: Avignon. again, its Centre Europeen de Poesie, in featuring me as its "Thursday Guest" discussing in French the question "Did the abolition of slavery really take place?" caused the second miracle in my life, my sustained use of a language beyond my competence at a difficult level in public--followed by my jazz-blues-gospel haiku reading, supported by saxophonist Jean-Yves Huguet. BOOK PUBLISHED: JAZZ from the Haiku King (Detroit: Broadside Press), the first of its kind, revealing a new literary genre ( jazz-and-blues-and-gospel haiku) in 6 languages (English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Italian) with illustrative engravings by Godelieve Simons of Brussels. POEM IN JOURNAL: "Nightmare" in Poetry in Performance 27, Annual Spring Poetry Festival anthology, The City College of New York, p. 111. ART EXHIBITS SHOWING JAE POEMS: 10-26 Dec. 98: Museum of International Contemporary Art, Santa Catarina, Brazil, celebrating "50 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” G. Simons' wood engraving illustrating JAE's poem "Deadly James (For All the Victims of Police Brutality)" was included. 14-31 Jan. 99: 55th Salon JECTA at Abbaye de Forest in Brussels shows JAE's haiku illustrating G. Simons' 5-engraving series "Variations sur un rythme noir." 3-16 April: UFACSI (Union Feminine Artistique et Culturelle-Salons Internationaux) exposition "Ligne, lumiere, cooleur" at Hotel de Ville in Lille shows Numbers I and II of G. Simons' "Variations ... " 6 May: Universite Charles de Gaulle Lille III poetry reading-with music, as above, displayed G. Simons' "Variations sur un rythme noir."
Christmas 1998 Notes on Literary Happenings of the Year (James A. EMANUEL) Dear Friends, I submit this eighth list of Christmas-card padding: Entries learned too late for the 1997 list: Poem "A Negro Author" in Poetry in Performance 25, poetry festival annual, The City College of New York, p. 109. Poems in Chemins Croises, art book by Ksenia Milicevic (Paris: ArTmil): full-page illustrations in color of JAE 1s haiku, "The Bride," p. 6, and "The Blue Horse," p. 26, originally published in The Kenyon Review. POETRY READINGS: 19-22 Jan.: U.S. Embassy-sponsored tour of Germany (University Club in Bonn, accompanied by trombonist Joe Wulf in the jazz-haiku portion; Center for North America Research at Frankfurt University; Deutschland Radio in Cologne; German-American Center of the James F. Byrnes Institute in Stuttgart). 30 Jan.: Institut Charles V/University of Paris VII portion of the conference "The Harlem Rennaissance and Beyond." 10-21 Feb.: U.S. Embassy-sponsored tour (with saxophonist Chansse Evanns as musical accompanist during jazz-and-blues-and-gospel haiku presentations) in West and Central Africa: Accra, Ghana; Douala and Yaounde, Cameroon; and Abidjan, Ivory Coast. 22 March: The Live Poets Society at Johnny's Irish Pub in Montmartre, Paris, with poets Gwen Strauss and John Kliphan. 5 May: Shakespeare & Company Bookstore, as part of the Festival francoanglais de poesie. 5 Dec.: bilingual reading sponsored by the literary review La Traductiere at the Sorbonne's Amphitheatre Edgar-Quinet, Paris, with 23 other poets, among them Michael Brannan (Australia), Claude Darbellay (Switzerland), Michael Lynch (USA), Garald Mangan (Scotland), Nimrod (Tchad), Derry O' Sullivan (Ireland), Georges Thines (Belgium), Jacques Rancourt (Quebec). BOOK (in galley proof stage): JAZZ from the Haiku King being typeset by Broadside Press of Detroit . PROSE IN BOOK: Short essay on "Ou va la poesie? " in La Traduc tie re, No. 16 (June), p. 34, as part of a symposium. A "revue de pofsie -- art visuel" in Paris. POEMS IN BOOKS: Frank: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing & Art, No. 16/17, contains "Dizzy Gillespie (News of His Death)," "Sonny Rolli n s ( Under the Williamsburg Bridge)," "Chet Baker," "Love and Sex, I," and "Dame Gravity, I" on pages 172-73- MCAD (National Computer Systems database), 1998-99 version, reprints "A Small Discovery." • • REFERENCEBOOKS WITH ENTRIES ON JAE: The International Order of Merit: Reister of Members (Cambridge, England: e rose ress t bas bio-bibliographical s etch, p. 25. International Who's Who of Intellectuals, 13th edition . ART EXHIBITS SHOWING JAE POEMS: 5-28 Feb.: Brussels (Maison des Artistes at Anderlecht), 54th Salon of JECTA. Included Godelieve Simons 1 5-engraving series ."Variations sur un rythme noir, 11 each large engraving illustrated by a JAE haiku with French versions by Jean Migrenne and G. Simons. March: Mouscron, Belgium, 13th Festival interns tional des Arts plastiques exhibited 3 engravings of the series "Variations sur un rythme noir." 20 June-19 July: Villers-la-Ville, Belgium, 102nd Grand salon d'ete, Maison des Arts du Goddiarch, Premiere Biennale de la Gravure. Included the 5-engraving series as shown in February with JAE haiku. 5-6 Sept.: Brussels, "Sentiers des arts" :weekend, atelier of Godelieve Simons. Included "Variations sur un rythme noir," now a 6-part series, as well as the large engraving bearing JAE's "Inside a smootb stone" haiku. MISCELLANEOUS: G. Simons I video documentary on JAE reached a, 5-hour length with interviews at City University (CONY) and Columbia; Univ. in New York, and in Denver, Colo.
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Second Letter to Douglas Watson December 1981 (page 4 of 4)

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