Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 63 (1998) Winner
Toi Derricotte
トイ・デリコット
Toi Derricotte
Aliases:
Toinette Webster
Pen Names:
Toinette Webster（birth name）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1941-04-12 （Hamtramck, Michigan）
- Nationality
- American
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Catholic (Roman Catholic)
- Residence History
- Hamtramck, Michigan → Detroit, Michigan → New Jersey (including Upper Montclair) → Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Educator, Professor Emerita
- Active Years
- 1964-
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (Professor Emerita), Cave Canem Foundation (co-founder)
- Memberships
- The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective, Academy of American Poets (Chancellor, 2012–2017)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne State University | — | Special Education (initially studied Psychology) | BA | 1960s | United States |
| New York University | — | English Literature | MA | 後年 | United States |
Wayne State University
Special Education (initially studied Psychology)
Degree:
BA
Period:
1960s
Year of Graduation:
1965
Country:
United States
Studies interrupted by unplanned pregnancy and marriage; later completed BA in Special Education
New York University
English Literature
Degree:
MA
Period:
後年
Country:
United States
Exact graduation year not specified in sources
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Lucille Medwick Memorial Award | — | — | Unknown (literary awarding body) | 受賞 |
| 1998 | Paterson Poetry Prize | Tender | — | Paterson Prize (awarding body) | 受賞 |
| 1998 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Non-Fiction) | The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey | Non-Fiction | Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards | 受賞 |
| 2012 | PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry | The Undertaker's Daughter | — | PEN America | 受賞 |
| 2019 | National Book Award for Poetry | "I": New and Selected Poems | — | National Book Foundation | ファイナリスト |
| 2020 | Frost Medal (Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in Poetry) | — | Lifetime Achievement | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 2021 | Wallace Stevens Award | The Blue Nightgown | — | Academy of American Poets | 受賞 |
| 2025 | Honorary Doctor of Arts | — | — | Northwestern University | 授与 |
Lucille Medwick Memorial Award
1985
Organization:
Unknown (literary awarding body)
Result:
受賞
Paterson Poetry Prize
1998
Work:
Tender
Organization:
Paterson Prize (awarding body)
Result:
受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Non-Fiction)
1998
Work:
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey
Category:
Non-Fiction
Organization:
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result:
受賞
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
2012
Work:
The Undertaker's Daughter
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
受賞
National Book Award for Poetry
2019
Work:
"I": New and Selected Poems
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
ファイナリスト
Frost Medal (Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in Poetry)
2020
Category:
Lifetime Achievement
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
Wallace Stevens Award
2021
Work:
The Blue Nightgown
Organization:
Academy of American Poets
Result:
受賞
Honorary Doctor of Arts
2025
Organization:
Northwestern University
Result:
授与
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Empress of the Death House
1978 PoetryEarly collection of poems addressing personal experience and identity.
identityracepersonal experience
Natural Birth
1983 PoetryCollection including poems about the body, childbirth, and femininity.
motherhoodembodimentwomen's experience
Captivity
1989 PoetryA collection dealing with inner conflicts and forms of confinement.
freedom vs. confinementself-exploration
Tender
1997 PoetryPoems about intimacy, memory, and family relationships. Winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize.
intimacymemoryfamily
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey
1997 Memoir / Non-fictionA literary memoir reflecting on moving into an upscale neighborhood and on race and family; winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.
racismself-examinationfamily and memory
The Undertaker's Daughter
2011 PoetryPoems addressing family history, loss, and memory. Recipient of the PEN/Voelcker Award.
lossfamilymemory
"I": New and Selected Poems
2019 Poetry (Collected/Selected)A selected and new poems collection drawing from her career; longlisted/finalist for the National Book Award.
selfmemoryrace and identity
The Blue Nightgown
2021 PoetryReferenced as a poem (or part of a collection) noted in relation to the Wallace Stevens Award.
recollectionpersonal memory
Bibliography
- The Empress of the Death House (Lotus Press, 1978)
- Natural Birth (Firebrand Books, 1983)
- Captivity (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1989)
- Tender (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997)
- The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey (W.W. Norton, 1997)
- The Undertaker's Daughter (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011)
- "I": New and Selected Poems (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- introspective, confessional stylefrank and direct languageimagery-driven, memory-focused narration
- Recurring Motifs
- race and identityfamily and motherhoodmemory and revisiting the past
Legacy
Toi Derricotte is a major American poet whose co-founding of Cave Canem significantly supported the development of African-American poets. Her achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, and she has contributed to literary education as Professor Emerita at the University of Pittsburgh.
Academic Societies
- Academy of American Poets (served as Chancellor)
Archives
- Yale Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Toi Derricotte Papers)
Trivia
- Born Toinette Webster.
- Co-founded the Cave Canem Foundation with Cornelius Eady.
- Attended Mass daily in her youth as part of a Catholic upbringing.
- Taught at the University of Pittsburgh and later became Professor Emerita.
- Received an honorary Doctor of Arts from Northwestern University in 2025.