Clarence Major

Born 1936 Atlanta, GA (USA)

Major is not really "from" Nebraska. He lived in Omaha, sporadically, in the late 1950s and 1960s. He moved from Omaha to New York City in 1966. His 1996 novel Dirty Bird Blues draws on his experiences in Omaha. Clarence Major is an important and prolific African-American writer of fiction and poetry whose writing has won the Pushcart Prize (1996) and nomination for the National Book Award, among other honors. He has taught at the University of California at Davis. He is also a painter.

Places Lived

Omaha, NE

Author Of

Fiction
Poetry

Keywords

African American Writers; Novels; Short Fiction; Race Relations

Associations

Copper Canyon Press

Bibliography

Novels:

All-Night Visitors. 1969.
NO. 1973.
Reflex and Bone Structure. 1975.
Emergency Exit. 1979.
My Amputations. 1986.
Such Was the Season. 1987.
Painted Turtle: Woman with Guitar. 1988.
Dirty Bird Blues. 1996.

Some recent poetry collections:

Configurations: New & Selected Poems 1958-1998. 1999.
Waiting for Sweet Betty. 2002.
Myself Painting.. 2008.
Down and Up. 2013.

Short Stories:

Editor, Calling the Wind: Twentieth Century African-American Short Stories. 1992.
Fun and Games: Short Fiction. 1996.
Chicago Heat and Other Stories. 2016.

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