Wanda Coleman

Poet

Los Angeles, CA

California US

Author's Bio

Wanda Coleman was born Wanda Evans, and grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles during the 1960s. She received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and the California Arts Council (in fiction and in poetry). She was the first C.O.L.A. literary fellow (Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, 2003). Her honors included an Emmy in Daytime Drama writing, The 1999 Lenore Marshall Prize (for "Bathwater Wine"), and a nomination for the 2001 National Book Awards (for "Mercurochrome"). She was a finalist for California poet laureate (2005).

Coleman lived in Los Angeles with her husband, Austin Straus, until her death on November 22, 2013.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:

Best American Poetry 1996 (Scribner, 1996)

Postmodern American Poetry (W. W. Norton & Company, 1994)

Books:

The Love Project with Austin Straus (Red Hen Press, 2014)

Mercurochrome (Black Sparrow Press, 2001)

Mambo Hips & Make Believe (Black Sparrow Press, 1999)

Bathwater Wine (Black Sparrow Press, 1998)

Hand Dance (Black Sparrow Press, 1993)

African Sleeping Sickness (Black Sparrow Press, 1990)

More Information

Identifies as:

African American

Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.

Last update: Sep 02, 2014