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Albert James Young

Born: 05/31/1939   Ocean Springs
Parents: Albert James Young, Mary Young
Spouse: Arline Belck
Children: Michael James
Address(es):
Berkeley , CA
Contact Information:
Website : http://alyoung.org/index.php/biography/

Writings

Image Title Genre Audience Publisher Date
Jazz idiom : blueprints, stills, and frames : the jazz photography of Charles L. Robinson / poetic takes and riffs by Al Young. Non Fiction , Picture Book , Poetry Adult Berkeley, Calif. : Heyday Books 2008
Coastal nights and inland afternoons : the poetry of Al Young, poems, 2000-2006 Poetry Adult Santa Monica, Calif. : Angel City Press 2006
The sound of dreams remembered : poems 1990-2000
- American Book Award 2002 		Poetry Adult Berkeley, Calif. : Creative Arts Book Co. 2001
Conjugal visits : and other poems in verse and prose Poetry Adult Berkeley : Creative Arts Book Company 1996
Drowning in the sea of love : musical memoirs Non Fiction Adult Hopewell, N.J. : Ecco Press 1995
Straight No chaser Fiction Adult Berkeley, CA. : Creative Arts Book Co. 1994
Heaven : collected Poems 1956-1990 Poetry Creative Arts 1992
Seduction by Light Fiction Adult New York : Delta Books/Seymour Lawrence 1988
Things Ain't What They Used to Be: Musical Memoirs Non Fiction Adult Berkeley : Creative Arts Book Co. 1987
Kinds of Blue: Musical Memoirs Non Fiction Adult San Francisco : D. S. Ellis ; Berkeley : Distributed by Creative Arts Book Co. 1984
The Blues Don't Change: New and Selected Poems Poetry Adult Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press 1982
Bodies & Soul: Musical Memoirs
- American Book Award 1982 		Non Fiction Adult Berkeley : Creative Arts Book Co. 1981
Ask Me Now Fiction Adult New York : McGraw-Hill 1980
Yardbird Lives!
-  edited by Ishmael Reed and Al Young. 		Non Fiction Adult New York : Grove Press : distributed by Random House 1978
Geography of the Near Past : poems Poetry Adult New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston 1976
Sitting Pretty : a novel Fiction Adult New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1976
Who is Angelina? Fiction Adult New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1975
Some Recent Fiction Poetry San Francisco Book Company 1974
Nigger
- Screenplay 		Drama Adult 1972
Sparkle
- Screenplay 		Drama Adult 1972
The Song Turning Back into Itself Poetry Adult New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1971
New Directions in Prose and Poetry 22 Non Fiction , Poetry Adult New York : New Directions, 1970
Snakes: A Novel
- The author, like his chief character, M. C. Moore grew up black in Detroit with music on his mind. 		Fiction , Michigan Adult New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1970 -1972
- in the 1970s, he wrote scripts for Joseph Strick, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor. Fiction Adult 1970
Dancing: Poems Poetry Adult New York, Corinth Books 1969 -1973
- In Rolling Stone, New Times, Audience, Journal of Black Poetry, others Fiction
What is the aim or goal of your writing: 2nd ed. says, "I grew up in Michigan and there will always be something of the romantic but practical Midwestern in my work. I regard my work as both a practical and a spiritual activity; its purpose is to share what I have learned about being human in such a way as to strike responsive chords in the hearts of my readers."

May inquiries be sent to you about doing workshops, readings: No

Donated books to the Authors & Illustrators database project: No

Skills:
Author
Poet
Other - Screenwriter

Awards:

Name Date
Poet Laureate of California 2005
Before Columbus Foundation award 1982
American Book Award
- Bodies and Soul: Musical Memoirs 1982 The Sound of Dreams Remembered : Poems, 1990-2000 in 2002 		1982
Citation, New York Times 1980
Pushcart Prize 1980
San Francisco Foundation, Award 1969
National Endowment for the Arts grants
- Award received for following years: 1968, 1969, 1975 		1968 -1975
National Arts Council awards 1968 -1970
Fellowship, Stanford University 1966 -1967

Inclusion in biographical or critical works:

Name Date
Michigan Authors, 3rd editon 1993
Literary Michigan by the Michigan Council for the Humanities 1988
Michigan Authors, 2nd ed. 1980
Michigan in Fiction
- Michigan Department of Education 		1976
Who's Who Among Black Americans
Who's Who in the West
A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary
Black American Writers Past and Present
Contemporary Authors
Dictionary of Literary Biography
International Who's Who in Poetry

Education:

Degree Institution Location Date
Bachelor of Arts (B. A.) in Spanish University of California Berkeley , CA 1969
Fellowship Stanford University Palo Alto , CA 1966 -1967
Attended
- During this time he co-edited Generation, the campus literary magazine. 		University of Michigan Ann Arbor , MI 1957 -1961

Career:

Position Organization Location Date
Poet Laureate of California CA 2005 -2008
Teacher of Poetry Davidson College Davidson 2003
Cave Canem's summer workshop retreats for African-American Poets
- Faculty 		Brooklyn 2003 -2006
Lecturer on American and African-American literature and culture
- Traveled to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Southern Italy 		U. S. Department of State 2001 -2005
Writer-in- Residence University of Washington Seattle 1981 -1982
Cultural Ambassador
- Traveled throughout South Asia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank 		United States Information Agency 1980 -1999
Screenwriter Laser Films, Universal Studios Hollywood , CA 1972 -1979
Edward B. Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing Standford University Standford , CA 1969 -1976
Instructor Berkeley Neighborhood Youth Corps Berkeley , CA 1968 -1969
Instructor San Francisco Museum of Art San Francisco , CA 1967 -1969
Founding editor Loveletter 1966 -1968
Disc jockey KJAZ-FM Alameda , CA 1961 -1965
Touring musician 1957 -1964

Other Resources:

MeLCat Links:
http://elibrary.mel.org/search~S15?/aYoung%2C+Al%2C+1939-/ayoung+al+1939/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/exact&FF=ayoung+al+1939&1%2C-1%2C/indexsort=r

Last Modified On: 3/15/2025 12:00:00 AM