Age, Biography and Wiki

Clarence Major was born on 31 December, 1936 in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., is an American poet, painter and novelist (born 1936). Discover Clarence Major's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 87 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Poet, painter, and novelist
Age 87 years old
Zodiac Sign Capricorn
Born 31 December, 1936
Birthday 31 December
Birthplace Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality Georgia

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 31 December. He is a member of famous poet with the age 87 years old group.

Clarence Major Height, Weight & Measurements

At 87 years old, Clarence Major height not available right now. We will update Clarence Major's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
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Who Is Clarence Major's Wife?

His wife is Pamela Ritter Major (m. 1980)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Pamela Ritter Major (m. 1980)
Sibling Not Available
Children 6

Clarence Major Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Clarence Major worth at the age of 87 years old? Clarence Major’s income source is mostly from being a successful poet. He is from Georgia. We have estimated Clarence Major's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income poet

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Timeline

1936

Clarence Major (born December 31, 1936) is an American poet, painter, and novelist; winner of the 2015 "Lifetime Achievement Award in the Fine Arts", presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Clarence Major was born on December 31, 1936, in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois.

As a teenager he started drawing and painting, writing poetry and fiction.

In his early twenties he started publishing his own literary magazine, Coercion Review, which featured poets and writers such as Henry Miller, Kenneth Patchen and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

1950

As a teenager, Major was influenced by the monumental Van Gogh Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, February 1 – April 16, 1950.

1960

Major analyzed news coverage of the 1960s riots.

1966

After a stint in the Air Force, Major left the Midwest and moved to New York City in December 1966.

1967

He also did field work on the riots, in Detroit and Milwaukee, before turning, in 1967, to teaching.

First, he taught in Harlem at the New Lincoln School, in a summer program.

He later taught modern American literature courses and creative writing workshops in universities.

1968

Along with John A. Williams, in 1968, he taught for a stint at Girard College in Philadelphia.

During this time Major was also giving public readings of his poetry.

He served on the editorial staff of several literary periodicals (such as Caw! and The Journal of Black Poetry) and wrote a regular column for The American Poetry Review.

He was the first editor of American Book Review.

He read his poetry at the Guggenheim Museum, the Folger Theatre and in universities, theaters and cultural centers.

1969

His first novel, All Night Visitors, was published in 1969 and his first collection of poems, Swallow the Lake, the following year.

He briefly worked as a research analyst for Simulmatics, under the direction of sociologist Dr. Sol Chaneles.

1970

His first solo exhibition of paintings was at Sarah Lawrence College in the library in the early 1970s.

Major won a National Council on the Arts Award for his poetry collection Swallow the Lake in 1970, and the following year was awarded a New York Cultural Foundation grant for poetry.

1974

He joined the Fiction Collective in 1974.

Major edited High Plains Literary Review for several years.

1975

On a State Department-sponsored trip in 1975 he was a participant at the International Poetry Festival in Struga, Yugoslavia, where he read his work with Leopold Sedar Senghor and other poets from around the world.

1977

In 1977, with John Ashbery and other poets from various countries, Major read at the Poetry International in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

1981

Major has taught literature and/or creative writing at Brooklyn College, New York University, Queens College, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Washington, Howard University, University of Maryland, University of Colorado, Temple University, Binghamton University, the University of California at Davis and on a Fulbright-Hays Exchange award he taught American culture at the University of Nice, in France, 1981–1983.

1982

Reflexe et Ossature (1982), the French translation of Reflex and Bone Structure (1975), was nominated for the Prix Maurice Coindreau (1982).

1987

In 1987, he served twice on the National Endowment for the Arts Awards panels; and in 1997–98 he served as judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award.

He has judged state-sponsored literary contests in Ohio, New York, Washington, Colorado and California.

Major is distinguished professor emeritus of 20th-Century American Literature at the University of California at Davis.

His literary archives are in the Givens Collection of African American Literature, Anderson Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

For the most reliable biographical information on Clarence Major see Contemporary Authors, Volume 337, 2013, pages 270–312, ISBN 978-1-4144-8925-4.

Such Was The Season (1987) was a Literary Guild book club selection in 1988.

The same year The New York Times Book Review recommended it on its annual "Summer Reading" list.

1988

Painted Turtle: Woman With Guitar (1988) was cited by The New York Times Book Review as a "Notable Book of The Year" 1988.

1989

Although he had been painting all along, after moving to California in 1989 he showed his paintings more frequently in galleries.

He left the University of Colorado in 1989 and he taught at the University of California, Davis, for 18 years before his retirement in 2007.

He won the Pushcart Prize for the short story "My Mother and Mitch", in 1989.

1990

In 1990, his short-story collection, Fun & Games, was nominated for the Los Angeles Book Critics Award.

1991

In 1991, Major served as fiction judge for the National Book Awards.

1999

Major won a Bronze Medal as a finalist for the National Book Award in 1999 for Configurations: New and Selected Poems 1958–1998 (Copper Canyon Press).

2016

He was awarded the 2016 PEN Oakland/Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award.