Funeral Diva
First major publication by beloved NYC-based poet
A good comparable (older) title is American Dream by Sapphire
A very accessible and compelling "poetic memoir," in which Pamela Sneed traces her life from a small suburb in Massachusetts to Boston and then on to New York City. Along the way, she is embraced by the LGBTQ+ community, as well as artists and writers, cementing her own spot in these dynamic and often overlapping worlds.
Funeral Diva refers to the role Sneed played during a time when many of her friends were dying from AIDS. She became a voice for the community.
There is great interest—especially among younger readers—in the 80s and 90s and the many important artists we lost then, and in the stories from those who survived.
There are a number of titles coming out this year that comprise, somewhat, an "AIDS Canon," including After Silence: A History of AIDS Through It's Images from UC Press (April 2020), as well as an anthology of writings edited by Sarah Schulman to be published by FSG in 2020.
The issues Sneed discusses are not relegated to the past though, as she address our current moment and black life in America, especially for women.
Writer whose work has been featured in NYT Magazine, New Yorker, Bomb, Time Out, Vibe
Well-known performer/poet/writer who is invited regularly as a keynote speaker and performer to major venues such at The Public Theater in NYC.
Rising reputation as a visual artist who is now often included in group shows at significant galleries and museums, including The Whitney, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.
Accomplished teacher and mentor who is guest lecturer at major universities, including Yale, Columbia, Chicago School of the Art Institute, Pratt.
Artist-in-residence at Pratt University; Denniston Hill; and Poet-Linc, Lincoln Center Education.
She has received a Monica Hand, July 2018 scholarship for the Fine Arts Workshop in Provincetown.
Poet, professor, and performer, Pamela Sneed is the author of Sweet Dreams, Kong, and Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom than Slavery. She was a Visiting Critic at Yale, and at Columbia University's School of the Arts, and is online faculty at Chicago's School of the Art Institute teaching Human Rights and Writing Art. She also teaches new genres at Columbia's School of the Arts in the Visual Dept. Her work is widely anthologized and appears in Nikki Giovanni's, The 100 Best African American Poems.
She has performed at the Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, MOMA, Poetry Project, NYU and Pratt Universities, Smack Mellon Gallery, The High Line, Performa, Danspace, Performance Space, Joe's Pub, The Public Theater, SMFA, and BRIC. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
