Cheryl Clarke

Cheryl Clarke is a Black lesbian feminist poet, essayist, critic, scholar, educator, and activist born in Washington, D.C., known for her poetry collections like Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women (1983) and By My Precise Haircut (2016), and her critical work After Mecca: Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement (2005).[1][2][6] She earned her B.A. from Howard University in 1969 and advanced degrees from Rutgers University, where she worked for over 40 years, founding the Office of Diverse Community Affairs and Lesbian-Gay Concerns, and retired as Dean of Students in 2013.[2][3][6] Clarke has edited the journal Conditions, contributed to key anthologies such as This Bridge Called My Back, and co-founded the Hobart Festival of Women Writers.[2][3][6]