Poet, Writer, Editor, Journalist 1963 - Present
Editor - Black Renaissance Noire Journal
A New York University Institute of African-American-Affairs publication 2003 - present
Retired - Professor Emeritus
University of California, San Diego, Department of Literature
La Jolla, California, 2003
Professor - Caribbean and American Literatures and Creative Writing
University of California, San Diego, Department of Literature, La Jolla, CA 1991 - 2003
EXPERIENCE
Teaching (Full Time)
1989-1994 ProfessorCollege of Staten Island, NY
1984-1989Associate ProfessorCollege of Staten Island, NY
1979-1984Assistant ProfessorCollege of Staten Island, NY
1976-1979LecturerCollege of Staten Island, NY
1971-1976 LecturerRichmond College, Staten Island, NY
1969-1972InstructorOhio University, Athens, Ohio
1969-1970Director, Malcolm X Center, Los Angeles, CA
1966-1968InstructorWatts Writers Workshop, Los Angeles, CA
Teaching (Part Time)
1985 Adjunct Professor Columbia University, Graduate Division of Writing, New York, NY
1978 Visiting Professor California State College, Sacramento, CA
1972 Visiting Professor University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
1972 Visiting Professor Lagos University, Lagos, Nigeria
1968InstructorUniversity of California, Los Angeles, CA
1967-1968InstructorUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL HONORS
2010 American Book Award, Lifetime Achievement
2007 Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement for Avalanche, a book of poems
2005Writers for Writers Award, Poets & Writers, Inc.
2003Finalist, The 2003 Paterson Poetry Prize
2003Milt Kessler Award for Poetry for Transcircularities, New & Collected Poems
2003Transcircularities Voted by Publishers Weekly as one of Ten Best Books of Poetry Published in 2002
2002Distinguished Artist Award, Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center
2002Appointed California Poet Laureate by Governor Gray Davis
2002Recipient of The Odin Award from the San Diego Writers/Editors Guild
2002 Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Poetry from the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Center for Adult Education
2001Recipient of an Award of Merit from the California Association of Teachers of English
2000Recipient of the Stephen Henderson Poetry Award for Outstanding Achievement from the African American Literature and Culture Society
2000Recipient of the Kuumba Award for Poetry from The African American Council
1998Inducted into Black Writers Hall of Fame at Chicago State University
1997Recipient of a Literary Light Award for Poetry from The Writing Center, San Diego
1995Heavyweight Champion of PoetryTaos Poetry Circus
1994Heavyweight Champion of PoetryTaos Poetry Circus
1991Peabody AwardThe Miles Davis Radio Project, Public
1991Ohio State AwardThe Miles Davis Radio Project, Public
1990American Book AwardMiles: The Autobiography: Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe (Simon & Schuster, 1989)
1987The New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry
1980American Book AwardSnake-Back solos, poetry, (I. Reed Books, 1979)
1980Appointed Director - Poetry Center The College of Staten Island by President Edmond Volpe
1972Institute for African Studies Grant to Africa
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Editor-at-Large The Green Magazine New York, NY
Artistic DirectorMuseum of Contemporary Art of San Diego "Artists on the Cutting Edge: Cross Fertilizations" Literary & Music Series 1993-present.
Artistic DirectorSan Jose Museum of Art "Intersections” Literary & Music Series, 1998 - 2001.
Guest EditorAfrican Voices Magazine, summer, 2002
Founding Editorial DirectorCode Magazine 1999-2000
Contributing EditorConjunctions Magazine, 1991-present
Contributing Editor Drumvoices Revue 1999-2009
Co-EditorRiver Styx Magazine 1983-1988
Senior EditorRiver Styx Magazine 1988-present
ContributorSan Diego Writer’s Monthly Magazine 2002
Producer“Black Roots Festival" Reading Series, New York, 1973-present
Co-Producer“Miles Davis Radio Project,” Public Broadcasting System 1989-1991
Writer“Thelonius Monk: An American Composer”, television documentary, 1991, Toby Byron Multiprises
Founding EditorAmerican Rag Magazine, Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center, New York, New York, 1978
Founding EditorConfrontations Magazine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 1970
JudgeCave Canem Poetry Prize 2003
JudgeNational Endowment for the Arts Poetry Panel, 2000
JudgeIllinois Arts Council 1991
JudgePoetry Society of America 1991
JudgeNational Poetry Contest 1989
JudgeMissouri State Council of the Arts 1989-1990
JudgeWriters Voice, 63rd Street, YMCA 1987
JudgeNew York Foundation for the Arts 1987
JudgeMichigan Council of the Arts, 1986
JudgeMassachusetts Council of the Arts 1985
JudgeNational Endowment for the Arts 1984
JudgeOhio Arts Council 1984-1985
JudgeCAPS Fiction Panel 1980
Bibliography available upon request.
