December 4, 2024

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Lewis Grandison Alexander Bio, Age, Poetry, Education

Lewis Grandison Alexander

Lewis Grandison Alexander

Lewis Grandison Alexander, Biography

Lewis Grandison Alexander was a prolific poet, actor, playwright, and costume designer at the peak of the Black Renaissance. Among his many creative achievements, he spent a significant amount of his time producing poetry, which is the medium for which he is most well-known. The literature about Lewis G. Alexander has very little biographical information. He did, however, write a little autobiographical narrative for Countee Cullen’s Caroling Dusk as early as 1927. On July 4, 1900, Lewis Alexander came to the world in Washington, D.C.

Lewis Grandison Alexander, Education

He got his education at Howard University and in Washington’s public schools. Alexander participated in the Howard Players while attending Howard University, where he was coached by Mrs. Marie Moore Forrest. Alexander was an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania as well.

Lewis Grandison Alexander, Age, Birthday and Death

On July 4, 1900, Lewis Alexander came to the world in Washington, D.C. In 1945, Alexander passed away at a young age. The month and day of his death were not found in a thorough search of the literature. He died at the age of forty-four.

Lewis Grandison Alexander, Poetry

At the age of 17, Alexander started penning poetry, focusing on Japanese styles. “There are not enough English forms to satisfy Lewis Alexander, for having tried them he turns to two very interesting Japanese forms, the hokku and the tanka,” writes Nellie R. Bright in her review of Caroling Dusk. (Page 43, The Carolina Magazine, May 1928) “Alexander, interesting enough, has been most successful with his Japanese Hokku poems,” writes Charles S. Johnson in an essay. (Page 47, The Carolina Magazine, May 1927).

Alexander is described as “one of the younger Negro poets, a member of the Playwriters Circle of Washington, D. C.; has directed pageants and was director of The Ira Aldridge Players of the Grover Cleveland Center and the Randall Community Center Players” in the September 1925 issue of the National Urban League’s Opportunity Magazine. He has received instruction from the Ethiopian Art Theater. The Randall Community Center Players and the Ira Aldridge Players were both minor theatrical organizations with their headquarters in Washington, D.C. During the 1922–23 season, he performed on Broadway in The Comedy of Errors and Salome as a member of the Ethiopian Art Theatre.

Alexander Lewis, Young Black Literacy Circle

Several journals of the time, such as the Messenger, Opportunity, and a special edition of Palms, a poetry journal from Guadalajara, Mexico, published Lewis Alexander’s writings. In addition to illustrating the scope of the Black Renaissance, this special issue of Palms (October 1926), published by Countee Cullen, also shows how actively Alexander participated in that cultural awakening. Alexander contributed to the Palms issue, “Dream Song” and “A Group of Japanese Hokku.” Following his departure from Washington, Alexander actively participated in the emerging black literary scene in every city he called home. Along with other up-and-coming authors, his poetry was accepted for publication in Philadelphia’s “Black Opals” literary journal.

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Lewis, Students at the University of North Carolina

By dedicating three special editions of Carolina Magazine, the student literary publication, to black writers, the University of North Carolina’s staff and students demonstrated their deep interest in black literature. Established in 1844, this literary magazine served as the University of North Carolina students’ official literary periodical. Alexander was an honorary editor of The Carolina Magazine’s “Negro Number,” which the students published in May 1927. In their acknowledgments, the editors noted how important Alexander was to the compilation of the content.

Lewis Grandison Alexander, Little Cinderella

One of the fresh young writers who actively participated was Lewis Alexander. The one issue of Fire!!, a quarterly dedicated to the younger Negro artists, included him as one of its poets. The magazine’s goal was to destroy many of the outdated, traditional Negro-white concepts of the past. One of the two poems provided by Alexander to that single issue of Fire!! is “Little Cinderella,” ironically about a sex worker.

Africa

Opportunity published Alexander’s writings as early as 1924. The magazine’s May edition contains three poems about Africa: “Africa” by Claude McKay, “Our Land” by Langston Hughes, and “Africa” by Lewis Alexander.

Lewis Alexander, Negro Woman

With multiple anthologies and at least two appearances in Opportunity (in April 1926 and January 1929), “Negro Woman” is arguably Alexander’s most anthologized poem.

Signing Off

The excellent examples of Alexander’s poetry help to illuminate his role as an active participant in the Renaissance, despite the fact that only a small portion of his life is preserved in print.