Dolores Kendrick
American poet
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Dolores Kendrick (September 7, 1927 – November 7, 2017) was an American poet, and served as the second Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia.[1][2] Her book The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women won the Anisfield-Wolf Award.[3]
Dolores Kendrick | |
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| Born | September 7, 1927 |
| Died | November 7, 2017 (aged 90) Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation |
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| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable works | The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women |
| Notable awards | Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia |
Biography
Dolores Teresa Kendrick was born on September 7, 1927, in Washington, DC. to parents Josephine, a musician and teacher, and Robert "Ike", founder and publisher of the Capitol Spotlight. She grew up in the LeDroit Park neighborhood near Howard University.[4] She attended Dunbar High School where she began writing poetry, and went on to Miners Teachers College to study English, earning a bachelor's degree in 1949.[5] She earned a master's degree in linguistics from Georgetown University in 1970 as part of the Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program.[6] She designed the humanities curriculum for D.C.'s School Without Walls, where she was a co-founder.[7][5] In 1963 she received a Fulbright Teacher Exchange to go to Belfast, Northern Ireland.
She published her first book of poetry, Through the Ceiling, in 1975, followed by Now Is the Thing to Praise (1984).[5] Kendrick was a Vira I. Heinz professor emerita at Phillips Exeter Academy.[8] She adapted The Women of Plums for the theater, which won the 1997 New York New Playwrights Award.[9] Then she further adapted it into a digital cd, The Color of Dusk, with Wall Matthews and Aleta Greene.[10]
Kendrick died at her Washington, D.C. home on November 7, 2017, aged 90, from complications of cancer.[11]
Works
- Through the Ceiling, Paul Breman Limited, 1975
- Now Is the Thing to Praise, Lotus Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-916418-54-0
- The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women, Phillips Exeter Academy Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-939618-08-8
- Why the Woman Is Singing on the Corner: A Verse Narrative, Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2001, ISBN 978-1-931807-00-5
Awards and honors
- 1963: Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, Belfast, Northern Ireland[12]
- 1965: Deep South Writers' Award for narrative poem "Freddie"[12]
- 1967: Visiting master, 'Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawai'i[13]
- 1981: Poet-in-residence at Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts[12]
- 1988: Creative Writing Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts[14]
- 1990: Anisfield-Wolf Book award for The Women of Plums[15]
- 1997: New York New Playwrights award for her stage adaptation of The Women of Plums[9]
- 1999: Named Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia[16]
- 2005: Inducted into the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame in the cultural arts category[17]