Janis Mayes
Encyclopedia
Dr. Janis Alene Mayes is leading American author, literary critic,literary translator and professor in Africana
literature. She has made literary contributions in French and English language literature in the African Diaspora. Her specialties are in french translation literary practices. She has translated ground breaking anthologies and books in francophone literatures. Her translation of A Rain of Words is the first comprehensive anthology of francophone poetry and includes work from 47 authors not well known outside of francophone literature . She is also the pioneer and director of the first American study abroad program that examines the historical connections between African Americans and 'Black Paris' called, “Paris Noir”. The Syracuse University
program has been influential in shaping Africana focused cultural programs at leading museums in Paris like the Lourve.. This original specialized program has also gained notoriety by attracting students from universities across the USA like Spelman, Agnes Scott, and George Washington University and Hampton University. It has brought students to Paris
to meet in scholarship with world renowned artists that are connected to the intellectual, artistic, and historical Black French experience like Nina Simone
, Archie Shepp
, Barbara Chase-Riboud
, Sonia Sanchez
and Toni Morrison
. She was a board member of the Toni Morrison
Society. In 2004, she has participated in public conversations with Toni Morrison
in Paris at Theatre de la Madeleine after the unveiling of a bench commemorating the end of slavery in France. She has also organizes cultural literary conferences, including an event with 'Discover Paris!' that celebrated the literary contribution of Toni Morrison
to the African diaspora
. She then obtained a masters and Phd in French literature from Brown University
. She was also a Fulbright Scholar. She had additional study as a scholar at the University of Paris-Sorbonne . She moved to Syracuse, New York in the 1980’s where she began teaching at Syracuse University in the Department of African American Studies. she is currently a professor at Syracuse University. She teaches in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University.
Africana studies
In United States education, Africana studies, or Africology is the study of the histories, politics and cultures of peoples of African origin both in Africa and in the African diaspora....
literature. She has made literary contributions in French and English language literature in the African Diaspora. Her specialties are in french translation literary practices. She has translated ground breaking anthologies and books in francophone literatures. Her translation of A Rain of Words is the first comprehensive anthology of francophone poetry and includes work from 47 authors not well known outside of francophone literature . She is also the pioneer and director of the first American study abroad program that examines the historical connections between African Americans and 'Black Paris' called, “Paris Noir”. The Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
program has been influential in shaping Africana focused cultural programs at leading museums in Paris like the Lourve.. This original specialized program has also gained notoriety by attracting students from universities across the USA like Spelman, Agnes Scott, and George Washington University and Hampton University. It has brought students to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to meet in scholarship with world renowned artists that are connected to the intellectual, artistic, and historical Black French experience like Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, Barbara Chase-Riboud
Barbara Chase-Riboud
Barbara Chase-Riboud is an American novelist, poet, sculptor and visual artist, perhaps best known for her historical fiction. Much of her work has explored themes related to slavery and exploitation of women....
, Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books...
and Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
. She was a board member of the Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
Society. In 2004, she has participated in public conversations with Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
in Paris at Theatre de la Madeleine after the unveiling of a bench commemorating the end of slavery in France. She has also organizes cultural literary conferences, including an event with 'Discover Paris!' that celebrated the literary contribution of Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
to the African diaspora
Early Life
Mayes gained her undergraduate degree in French literature at Fisk UniversityFisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
. She then obtained a masters and Phd in French literature from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. She was also a Fulbright Scholar. She had additional study as a scholar at the University of Paris-Sorbonne . She moved to Syracuse, New York in the 1980’s where she began teaching at Syracuse University in the Department of African American Studies. she is currently a professor at Syracuse University. She teaches in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University.
Department of African American Studies - Syracuse University
The Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University is a leading Africana studies department in the United States. It is a prominent independent department at Syracuse University that has had a long history of activism and scholarship in Black and Pan African Studies...
Published Works
- Taking the Blues Back Home/Ramener le blues chez soi, Présence africaine (translation)- 2010
- A Rain of Words: A Bilingual Anthology of Women's Poetry in Francophone Africa, Irène Assiba d'Almeida (translation) – 2009
- The Blind Kingdom, Veronique TadjoVéronique TadjoVéronique Tadjo is a writer, poet, novelist, and artist from Côte d'Ivoire.Born in Paris, Véronique Tadjo was the daughter of an Ivorian civil servant and a French painter and sculptor. Brought up in Abidjan, she travelled widely with her family. Tadjo completed her BA degree at the University of...
(translation) - 2008 - Mapping Intersections: African Literature and Africa's Development (with with Anne Adams) – 1998
- "Of Dreams Deferred, Dead or Alive: African Perspectives on African-American Writers"
- The City Where No One Dies, Dadie, Bernard (translation) – 1986
- African Literature and Africa's Development (AWP) (with Anne Adams)
Achievements, Honors, Awards
- President, African Literature Association - 2003
- Fulbright Scholar