Hettie Jones
Encyclopedia
Hettie Jones is best known as the former wife of Amiri Baraka
, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer
herself. They have two children, Kellie and Lisa Jones
.
While known for her poetry
, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press
). It tells of her marriage and relationship with Baraka and her friendships with such popular Beat generation
figures as Allen Ginsberg
, Jack Kerouac
, Frank O'Hara
, Joel Oppenheimer
, and Charles Olson
, among others. A focal point of the work is also her struggle to find an identity, as an outcast of her Jewish family and wife of a black artist during the Civil Rights era.
Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review
and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School
in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills
, which included inmate Judy Clark
as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council.
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
herself. They have two children, Kellie and Lisa Jones
Lisa Jones
Lisa Jones is the daughter of poets Hettie Jones and Amiri Baraka . Her sister, Dr. Kellie Jones, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University....
.
While known for her poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
). It tells of her marriage and relationship with Baraka and her friendships with such popular Beat generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
figures as Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Frank O'Hara
Frank O'Hara
Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
, Joel Oppenheimer
Joel Oppenheimer
Joel Lester Oppenheimer was an American poet associated with both the Black Mountain poets and the New York School. He was the first director of the St. Marks Poetry Project...
, and Charles Olson
Charles Olson
Charles Olson , was a second generation American modernist poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat poets, and the San Francisco Renaissance...
, among others. A focal point of the work is also her struggle to find an identity, as an outcast of her Jewish family and wife of a black artist during the Civil Rights era.
Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women is a prison for women in Bedford Hills in the Town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, USA. Bedford Hills, the only New York State Department of Correctional Services women's maximum security prison, is the largest women's prison in New York State...
, which included inmate Judy Clark
Judith Alice Clark
Judy Clark, an activist with a long-standing history in the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, is currently in prison for her participation in the attempted robbery of a Brinks truck in 1981 that left a guard and two police officers dead. Clark was convicted for a secondary role in the...
as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council.