Wanda Why Aren’t You Dead by Wanda Coleman

Born on November 13, 1946, Wanda Coleman grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. During her lifetime she worked as a medical secretary, magazine editor, journalist, and Emmy Award-winning scriptwriter before turning to poetry. Coleman’s poetry collections include Mercurochrome: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 2001), which was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry; Bathwater Wine (Black Sparrow Press, 1998), which received the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry… (more)

Born on November 13, 1946, Wanda Coleman grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. During her lifetime she worked as a medical secretary, magazine editor, journalist, and Emmy Award-winning scriptwriter before turning to poetry. Coleman’s poetry collections include Mercurochrome: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 2001), which was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry; Bathwater Wine (Black Sparrow Press, 1998), which received the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; Native in a Strange Land: Trials & Tremors (Black Sparrow Press, 1996); Hand Dance (Black Sparrow Press, 1993); African Sleeping Sickness: Stories and Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 1990); Heavy Daughter Blues: Poems & Stories 1968–1986 (Black Sparrow Press, 1988); and Imagoes (Black Sparrow Press, 1983). She also wrote the books Jazz and Twelve O’Clock Tales: New Stories (David R. Godine, 2008); Mambo Hips & Make Believe: A Novel (Black Sparrow Press, 1999); and A War of Eyes and Other Stories (Black Sparrow Press, 1988). Coleman lived in Los Angeles until her death on November 22, 2013. (Source)

(less)