Ishmael Reed

The American Academy of Poets has put up a great page about Reed. There, you'll find a photo, a biography, and links, including one to his poem, “I Am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra.”

Here's a hyperlinked biography of Reed, along with some links to a bibliography and to other places of interest on the web.

This is a fairly comprehensive look at Reed's life and work, from The Oxford Companion to African American Literature.

The MacArthur Fellowship, sometimes called the “genius grant,” is currently set at $500,000, with absolutely no strings attached. Reed won one in 1998. Look at the company he keeps. Who do you recognize on this list?

Here are five reviews of books by Reed, and a link to hear an interview he did for Minnesota Public Radio. Read one of the reviews to determine whether you'd like to read the source material. (Free registration required.)

This is a teacher's guide to Reed, covering things like classroom strategies and major themes. As a student, what insights did you gain by taking a look at this writer's work from a teacher's point of view?

Reed founded a magazine called Konch. Here is its homepage, where you'll find links to photos, poetry, essays, and poems done by various artists.

In this interview at the Center for Book Culture.org, Reed discusses other writers and his own writing within the context of black American culture.

Looking for a bibliography of Reed's works? Here's one that also includes a photo and a couple links to pages about Reed.

The University of Delaware Library has a collection of Ishmael Reed papers, covering the years 1964-1995. This is the homepage of the site, and you'll find information about his novels, plays, and poems, and many other types of writing there.