Henry Dumas (1934 – 1968)
Henry Dumas was an African-American poet and writer.
After being shot and killed at age 33 in an apparent case of mistaken identity by the New York City Transit Police, Dumas' work was collected and published by Toni Morrison when she worked as an editor at Random House.
Born on July 20, 1934, in Sweet Home, Arkansas, Dumas moved to Harlem, New York, at the age of 10. After graduating high school he attended City College in New York before joining the Air Force. He was married to Loretta Ponton in 1955, and after returning from his tour in the Air Force he enrolled at Rutgers University in 1957. In 1967, he became a teacher-counselor and director of language workshops at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in Higher Education, in East St. Louis.
Dumas was identified with the Black Power movement and involved with Civil Rights during his short lifetime, and was associated with Dr. Edward W. Crosby and Eugene Redmond, who worked to publish Dumas' work posthumously.
His death is mentioned in the poem "An Alphabet of My Dead," by Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, as well as the poem "Night, for Henry Dumas" by Aracelis Girmay.
Dumas’s poetry is influenced by his interests in African American history, jazz, gospel music, and Arabic culture and mythology (which he developed an interest in while stationed on the Arabic Pennisula during his Air Force tour), as well as Christianity and the supernatural.
Bibliography:
Poetry for My People (1970) (poetry) Published by Southern Illinois Press, where Dumas worked before his death. After reading Poetry for My People, Toni Morrison, who worked as an editor for Random House, used her influence to publish two collections - Play Ebony, Play Ivory (a reprint of Poetry for My People) and Ark of Bones and Other Stories).
Ark Of Bones and Other Stories (1974) (short stories) Edited by Eugene Redmond and published by Random House in 1974. "This compelling collection of nine stories by Dumas, published and unpublished at the time of his death, combines both concerns, and the arrangement of the stories demonstrates simultaneously the growth of black consciousness in America and the ever-increasing sophistication of youth." "Zeno's Bookstore - San Francisco. An earlier collection was published by Southern Illinois Press in 1970.
Play Ebony, Play Ivory (1974) (poetry)
Jonoah and the Green Stone (1976) (novel)
Rope Of Wind and Other Stories (1979) (short stories)
Goodbye, Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) (short stories) Poet Eugene Redmond, who had been an associate of Dumas during his life, renewed interest in Dumas' work with the publication of this short story anthology.
Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas (1989) (poetry)
Echo Tree: The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas (Coffee House Press, 2003) (short stories)
Born on July 20, 1934, in Sweet Home, Arkansas, Dumas moved to Harlem, New York, at the age of 10. After graduating high school he attended City College in New York before joining the Air Force. He was married to Loretta Ponton in 1955, and after returning from his tour in the Air Force he enrolled at Rutgers University in 1957. In 1967, he became a teacher-counselor and director of language workshops at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in Higher Education, in East St. Louis.
Dumas was identified with the Black Power movement and involved with Civil Rights during his short lifetime, and was associated with Dr. Edward W. Crosby and Eugene Redmond, who worked to publish Dumas' work posthumously.
His death is mentioned in the poem "An Alphabet of My Dead," by Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, as well as the poem "Night, for Henry Dumas" by Aracelis Girmay.
Dumas’s poetry is influenced by his interests in African American history, jazz, gospel music, and Arabic culture and mythology (which he developed an interest in while stationed on the Arabic Pennisula during his Air Force tour), as well as Christianity and the supernatural.
Bibliography:
Poetry for My People (1970) (poetry) Published by Southern Illinois Press, where Dumas worked before his death. After reading Poetry for My People, Toni Morrison, who worked as an editor for Random House, used her influence to publish two collections - Play Ebony, Play Ivory (a reprint of Poetry for My People) and Ark of Bones and Other Stories).
Ark Of Bones and Other Stories (1974) (short stories) Edited by Eugene Redmond and published by Random House in 1974. "This compelling collection of nine stories by Dumas, published and unpublished at the time of his death, combines both concerns, and the arrangement of the stories demonstrates simultaneously the growth of black consciousness in America and the ever-increasing sophistication of youth." "Zeno's Bookstore - San Francisco. An earlier collection was published by Southern Illinois Press in 1970.
Play Ebony, Play Ivory (1974) (poetry)
Jonoah and the Green Stone (1976) (novel)
Rope Of Wind and Other Stories (1979) (short stories)
Goodbye, Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) (short stories) Poet Eugene Redmond, who had been an associate of Dumas during his life, renewed interest in Dumas' work with the publication of this short story anthology.
Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas (1989) (poetry)
Echo Tree: The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas (Coffee House Press, 2003) (short stories)
