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William Melvin Kelley

ウィリアム・メルヴィン・ケリー

William Melvin Kelley

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1937-11-01 （Seaview Hospital, Staten Island, New York, U.S.）
Died
2017-02-01 （Manhattan, New York, U.S.） age 79
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism (later in life)
Residence History
The Bronx (childhood) → Rome (c.1963–1964) → Paris (late 1960s) → Jamaica (nearly a decade) → Harlem, New York (after return to the U.S.)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Educator, Novelist, Short-story writer
Active Years
1962-2017
Affiliations
State University of New York at Geneseo (writer-in-residence, etc.), The New School (instructor), Sarah Lawrence College (instructor, from 1989)
Influenced By
John Hawkes, Archibald MacLeish, Richard Wright
Influenced
Later African-American writers (influence on experimental and political fiction), Writers and critics in contemporary American fiction

Education

Fieldston School (Ethical Culture Fieldston School)
Country: United States
Secondary education. Served as student-council president and track team captain.
Harvard University
Literature/Arts (changed majors multiple times)
Period: 1956–1960（卒業はせずに1960年に中途退学）
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: United States
Awarded the Dana Reed Prize for fiction while a student. Left school in 1960 six months before graduation to pursue writing.

Awards

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2008
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Dana Reed Prize (creative writing)
1959
Work: Short story "The Poker Party"
Organization: Harvard University
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Different Drummer

1962 Novel

A debut novel portraying a black exodus from an unnamed Southern state, told entirely through white characters' perspectives; employs satire to examine racial attitudes.

RaceCommunityExodus and mobilitySocial satire

Dancers on the Shore

1964 Short story collection

A 1964 collection of short stories featuring recurring characters and themes that continue from his early novels.

RaceIdentityUrban life

A Drop of Patience

1965 Novel

Published in 1965; a second novel continuing his experimental narrative approach and recurring characters.

Experimental styleInterpersonal relationshipsRace

dem

1967 Novel

Published in 1967 after Kelley moved abroad; continues his experimental narrative techniques.

MigrationCultural disjunctionIdentity

dunfords travels everywheres

1970 Novel

Published in 1970; includes metafictional elements and develops themes that recur in his later and unpublished works.

MetafictionCommunity breakdownSocial issues

Bibliography

  • A Different Drummer (Doubleday, 1962)
  • Dancers on the Shore (Doubleday, 1964)
  • A Drop of Patience (Doubleday, 1965)
  • dem (Doubleday, 1967)
  • dunfords travels everywheres (Doubleday, 1970)

Adaptations

  • Excavating Harlem in 2290 (wrote, produced, starred)
  • The Beauty That I Saw (contributed to a film assembled from Kelley's video diaries)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Black comedyExperimental narrativeMultiple perspectives
Recurring Motifs
Absurdities of racial attitudesCommunity and migrationMetafiction

Health

  • Kidney failure
    晩年（死因となる）
    Contributed to his death on February 1, 2017

Legacy

An experimental novelist prominent in the 1960s who has undergone renewed critical attention; described by some as a "lost giant" of American literature. Credited with the first printed use of the term "woke" in a 1962 NYT op-ed.

Archives

  • Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University (William Melvin Kelley family papers)

In Popular Culture

  • His 1962 piece "If You're Woke, You Dig It" has been cited in discussions of the word's history and referenced by sources such as the OED and BBC.
  • Featured in a 2018 New Yorker piece that reappraised his work and described him as a "lost giant."

Quotes

  • If You're Woke, You Dig It
    Source: The New York Times (op-ed, 1962) (1962)

Trivia

  • Debuted with A Different Drummer in 1962.
  • Often credited with the first printed use of the word "woke" in a 1962 NYT op-ed titled "If You're Woke, You Dig It."
  • Won the Dana Reed Prize while at Harvard but left school in 1960 six months before graduation to pursue writing.
  • Lived abroad for periods (including Paris and Jamaica) before returning to Harlem.
  • Mentioned in 2012 interviews that he had completed additional unpublished novels.
  • Died in 2017 from complications of kidney failure.