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Biography: Russell Atkins (1926- )
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Russell Atkins was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He published his first poetry while still in high school and was recognized as a unique voice by distinguished older poets, including Edith Sitwell and Carl Van Vechten. He trained at the Cleveland School of Art, the Cleveland Music School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, although his work toward a degree was interrupted by military service. In 1950 he cofounded Free Lance, a journal of poetry and prose that for almost 30 years published the work of young African-American poets and writers. During 1953 and 1954 Atkins attended the Iowa Workshop at the University of Iowa. He returned to Ohio, where he worked at the Sutphen School of Music (1957-1960), and served as a lecturer, writer-in-residence, and writing teacher in the Cleveland area, as he continued to write both poetry and music for publication and public performance.
From the first, Atkins's work has revolved around his fascination with the word and his belief that music and poetry can be successfully integrated to form a new and evolving art form. Many of his early efforts were concrete poems, with words exaggerated or placed on the page in nontraditional poetic formats to emphasize their meaning. In his later work, he joined words with music and drama to lift them off the page as part of performances. His works have been performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and his innovations on the poetic form have been warmly received in Europe. His best-known performance work was The Abortionist, which caused a furor of comment both at its original performance in 1963 and on its publication with another of Atkins's works as Two by Atkins: The Abortionist and The Corpse: Two Poetic Dramas to be Set to Music (Free Lance, 1963). At a time when abortion was rarely discussed openly, Atkins's representation of a naked woman undergoing the procedure on stage was considered scandalous by some critics, courageous by others. Atkins has also composed musical pieces including, with Langston Hughes and Hale Smith, a work published as Elegy (Highgate, 1968). He has also experimented with the short-story form, lectured widely, and served on literary advisory boards, including participation in the activities of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Atkins's first book of poems, A Podium Presentation, was published by Free Lance in 1960. Collections that followed include Phenomena (Free Lance, 1961), Objects (Hearse, 1961), Objects 2 (Renegade, 1964), Heretofore (Breman, 1968), Here in The (Cleveland State University, 1976), and Whichever (Free Lance, 1978). His collection of short stories, Maleficium was published in 1971 to some adverse reviews that criticized the violent content of the work. In 1991, Atkins privately published Juxtapositions: A Manifesto. He received an honorary doctorate from Cleveland State University in 1976 and a supporting grant from the Ohio Arts Council in 1978.
www.dlxs.org/products/ar...022.bio.html
Russell Atkins was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He published his first poetry while still in high school and was recognized as a unique voice by distinguished older poets, including Edith Sitwell and Carl Van Vechten. He trained at the Cleveland School of Art, the Cleveland Music School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, although his work toward a degree was interrupted by military service. In 1950 he cofounded Free Lance, a journal of poetry and prose that for almost 30 years published the work of young African-American poets and writers. During 1953 and 1954 Atkins attended the Iowa Workshop at the University of Iowa. He returned to Ohio, where he worked at the Sutphen School of Music (1957-1960), and served as a lecturer, writer-in-residence, and writing teacher in the Cleveland area, as he continued to write both poetry and music for publication and public performance.
From the first, Atkins's work has revolved around his fascination with the word and his belief that music and poetry can be successfully integrated to form a new and evolving art form. Many of his early efforts were concrete poems, with words exaggerated or placed on the page in nontraditional poetic formats to emphasize their meaning. In his later work, he joined words with music and drama to lift them off the page as part of performances. His works have been performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and his innovations on the poetic form have been warmly received in Europe. His best-known performance work was The Abortionist, which caused a furor of comment both at its original performance in 1963 and on its publication with another of Atkins's works as Two by Atkins: The Abortionist and The Corpse: Two Poetic Dramas to be Set to Music (Free Lance, 1963). At a time when abortion was rarely discussed openly, Atkins's representation of a naked woman undergoing the procedure on stage was considered scandalous by some critics, courageous by others. Atkins has also composed musical pieces including, with Langston Hughes and Hale Smith, a work published as Elegy (Highgate, 1968). He has also experimented with the short-story form, lectured widely, and served on literary advisory boards, including participation in the activities of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Atkins's first book of poems, A Podium Presentation, was published by Free Lance in 1960. Collections that followed include Phenomena (Free Lance, 1961), Objects (Hearse, 1961), Objects 2 (Renegade, 1964), Heretofore (Breman, 1968), Here in The (Cleveland State University, 1976), and Whichever (Free Lance, 1978). His collection of short stories, Maleficium was published in 1971 to some adverse reviews that criticized the violent content of the work. In 1991, Atkins privately published Juxtapositions: A Manifesto. He received an honorary doctorate from Cleveland State University in 1976 and a supporting grant from the Ohio Arts Council in 1978.
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