Celebrating Jayne Cortez – Firespitter: A Tribute to Jayne Cortez

Honoring the legacy of poet, performer and activist Jayne Cortez (1934-2012) with LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Marty Erlich, Magdalena Gomez, Robert Hershon, Bob Holman, Erica Hunt, Paolo Javier, Karma Mayet Johnson, Rosamond S. King, Evie Shockley, and Tamar-kali, each reading a favorite poem by Cortez and discussing her influence on their work.

Jayne Cortez (1934-2012) was a poet, spoken-word performance artist, editor, and activist. She published twelve volumes of poetry, most recently On the Imperial Highway: New and Selected Poems (2008), and recorded nine albums, among them Taking the Blues Back Home (1997) with her band The Firespitters. She founded the Watts Repertory Company, Bola Press, and the Organization of Women Writers of Africa, and was the recipient of many honors, among them the Langston Hughes Medal and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Arts Foundation.

Other Celebrating Jayne Cortez events:

Beautiful Sea of Waves: For Jayne
Thursday April 14, 2016
Location: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, David Rubenstein Atrium

If the woman is a drum…
Saturday April 23, 2016
Location: The Highline