Tag Archives: Billie Holiday

Frank O’Hara, Amiri Baraka: “The Day Lady Died”

March 19, 2014 Frank O’Hara and Billie Holiday had probably never met, never exchanged a single word.   There’s no record of the two of them at any gathering. What I found instead is an  image of Amiri Baraka and … Continue reading

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Seamus Heaney: More Strange Fruit

August 8, 2012 This week I’ve been listening to many versions of “Strange Fruit”: Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Gil Evans and the Sting.  I have to say: I still prefer Billie Holiday. But I had no idea Seamus Heaney also … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, collaboration, Comparative literature, contemporary poetry, Diaspora, Gender, globe, Irish literature, lyric, Modernist poetry, Music, Race, Racial violence, Remediation, Rock music, slavery, Translation, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature, World history, world literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Billie Holiday, Abel Meeropol: Black/Jewish Strange Fruit

July 25, 2012 Billie sang it, but the music and lyrics were Abel’s.   He had first written it as a poem, after seeing the photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Indiana on August 7, 1930.   … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Black-Jewish alliances, Cities, collaboration, Educational institutions, Ethnicity, Jewish literature, lyric, Media, Music, Newspapers, print medium, Publishers, Race, Racial violence, slavery, Twentieth century literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Gertrude Stein and Richard Wright

November 2, 2011 When Richard Wright applied for a passport in January 1946, he was turned down.  The State Department did not look favorably on left-leaning Americans (in this case, an ex-Communist) leaving their country and maligning it from abroad.  … Continue reading

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