Safiya henderson holmes poems household
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Lesley-Ann Brown had just returned from Copenhagen when Henderson-Holmes died, but she retained fond memories of her and her advice. She became poet-in-residence at the University Heights High School, and was appointed assistant professor at Syracuse University from 1990 until her death in 2001.
Henderson-Holmes was actively involved in initiatives such as Poets and Writers, Art Against Apartheid, and the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship.
Between 1982 and 1992, she received two Goodman City College Awards and a MacDowell Fellowship.
“When I became pregnant, she told me about all the joys she experienced as a new grandmother, how liberating it was to not be an uptight first-time mother. In 1990, Henderson-Holmes (she married film producer Preston Holmes, with whom she had one daughter, Naimah) won the Poetry Society of America’s William Carlos Williams Award for her first collection of poems, “Madness and a Bit of Hope” (Harlem River Press/Writers and Readers Publishing).
“Failure of an invention” is one of the often cited poems from the book.
Henderson-Holmes said that cancer made her feel "diminished", and that "in order to outlive this disease, I needed more of me—not less—more weight, more desire", which prompted her to write more poetry.
Henderson-Holmes died on April 8, 2001, aged 50.[4]
Reception
Despite attracting few critical analyses, Henderson-Holmes was popular in the New York poetry community, and her work has been published in multiple anthologies and editions.
“Every mask has slipped/I am not any of the names/or sounds you have called me/the tones have nearly made me deaf/this dark skin, both of us have tried to bleach/I can smell the cancer. Writer and poet June Jordan wrote that Henderson-Holmes gave readers "spine and joy and the grace of laughter – with a surety of craft that cannot fail".
Personal life
Henderson-Holmes married film producer Preston Holmes, and the couple had one daughter named Naimah.
Notes and References
- News: A soulful poet of Harlem: Safiya Henderson-Holmes.
Henderson-Holmes later pursued post-graduate studies at Columbia University's Teacher College.
Career
For some time, she worked as a physical therapist at Harlem Hospital, and also assisted pregnant women with a natural birthing practice.
Henderson-Holmes received multiple honors, including two Goodman City College Awards and a MacDowell Fellowship.
I recalled, too, how brave and resolute she was in her final days battling a cancer that ravaged her body but without curtailing her creative force to document it in several of her poems.
Many aspects of her short but brilliant life can be distilled from her poetry as well as from numerous books, brochures and memories from her friends and associates, particularly the coterie of writers in an extensive literary circle that often closed warmly around her.
Sharon “Safiya” E.
Henderson was born Dec. 30, 1950, in the Bronx, where she grew up. In 1999, she received a fellowship from the New York Foundation of the Arts. en.
Much of it can be found in “Spirit and Flame,” “In Search of Color Everywhere” and among several anthologies.
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Safiya Henderson-Holmes Explained
| Safiya Henderson-Holmes | |
| Birth Name: | Sharon E.
Henderson |
| Birth Date: | 30 December 1950 |
| Birth Place: | The Bronx, New York City, U.S. |
| Education: | New York University (BA) |
| Occupation: | Poet, university faculty member |
| Spouse: | Preston Holmes |
| Children: | 1 |
| Awards: | William Carlos Williams Award, MacDowell Fellowship, Northstar Grant, New York CAPS Poetry Fellowship, Goodman City College Award |
Sharon "Safiya" Henderson-Holmes (December 30, 1950 – April 8, 2001) was an American poet from New York.
She holds my chin as my mother did when I was a little girl, when my menstrual cramps were too painful to be only a female thing. To seduce myself, lick my own heart, gather memories like flowers and fireflies, bring every piece of me to the bedroom of my skin and not be afraid of love, even now, even now.”
She left a distinguished collection of performances and readings, each of which often contained dance and music.
‘I have to draw some blood.’ My chin collapses in her hand.”
Despite the affliction and its crippling effect, she continued to write with impressive results.
It was while working recently on a documentary about the history of 555 Edgecombe and 409 Edgecombe, two sites in Harlem where a number of iconic African-Americans live and have lived, that I was reminded of the poet Safiya Henderson-Holmes, who once resided at 409.