Waterways
Poetry in the Mainstream
volume 38 (2017-18)
The themes for all of volume 38 were lines excerpted
from poetry of
Cornelius Eady
"Such a humorous dance,"
excerpted from "Crows in a Strong Wind"
(Victims of the Latest Dance Craze, 1997)
"A Clown, flat on his back,"
excerpted from "The Empty Dance Shoes"
(Victims of the Latest Dance Craze, 1997)
"No more visiting poets!"
excerpted from "Charlie Chaplin Impersonates a Poet"
(the autobiography of a jukebox, 1997)
"You exist in a stacked deck,"
excerpted from "I'm a Fool to Love You"
(the autobiogaphy of a jukebox, 1997)
"the first foreign language I ever heard"
excerpted from "My Childhood in Grease"
(Kartunes, 1980)
"a love song walks up to me"
excerpted from Journey to the Next Frontier
(Kartunes, 1980)
"my body is an ear"
excerpted from "Journey to a Land That Is Mostly Ocean"
(Kartunes, 1980)
"the piece of wood becomes a holy poem"
excerpted from "Journey to the Land of Poetic Syndrome"
(Kartunes, 1980)
"I have kicked away the safety net"
excerpted from "Bachelor at the Party"
(Kartunes, 1980)
"BIRDS LIKE ME"
excerpted from "Literature Should Mean Something in Your Life"
(Kartunes, 1980)
"the water will buoy you"
excerpted from "Learning to Float"
(Kartunes, 1980)
Born in 1954, Cornelius Eady grew up in Rochester, NY, and is married
to artist and author, Sarah Micklem. He attended Monroe Community
and Empire State College. His books of poetry include: Kartunes(1980), Victims
of the Latest Dance Craze (1985 winner of the Lamont Prize), BOOM BOOM
BOOM (1988), The Gathering of My Name (1991), You Don't Miss Your Water
(1995), the autobiography of a jukebox (1997), Brutal Imagination
(2001 finalist for the National Book Award) and Hardheaded Weather(2008). He wrote the libretto for the opera, Running Man (1999 finalist
for the Pulitzer Prize). In July, 1980, his poem, Living With
Genius, was published in Waterways, vol. 1 no. 2.
He was director of the Poetry Center at SUNY Stonybrook, taught at
Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, City College of New York,
Notre Dame, The College of William and Mary, Sweet Briar College, and
has held the Miller Chair in Poetry at University of Missouri.
In 1996, Cornelius and Toi Derricot founded Cave Canem, a
nonprofit organization providing safe space for intellectual engagement
by African American authors. Twenty years later, 2016, Derricote
and Eady were awarded the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award
for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. Since 2013, Cornelius has performed with the band, Rough Magic.
