Janis Mayes

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Dr. Janis Alene Mayes is an American author, literary critic and translator and a professor in Africana literature.[1][2][3]

Early life[]

Mayes gained her undergraduate degree in French literature at Fisk University. She was a Fulbright Scholar.[4] She had additional study as a scholar at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. In the 1980s she moved to Syracuse, New York, where she began teaching at Syracuse University in the Department of African American Studies; she is currently a professor there.[5] She teaches in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University.

Career[]

She has made contributions in French- and English-language literature in the African Diaspora. Her specialties are in French translation literary practices. She has translated anthologies and books in francophone literatures. Her translation of A Rain of Words is an anthology of francophone poetry.[6] She is the director of a US study abroad program that examines the historical connections between African Americans and "Black Paris", entitled Paris Noir. The Syracuse University program claims to have shaped Africana-focused cultural programs at leading museums in Paris such as the Louvre.[7][citation needed] Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Sonia Sanchez and Toni Morrison are said to have been involved.[7] She was a board member of the Toni Morrison Society. In 2004, she participated in conversations with Toni Morrison at the Theatre de la Madeleine after the unveiling of a bench commemorating the end of slavery in France.[8] She has also organized cultural literary conferences, including an event with Discover Paris! that celebrated the literary contribution of Toni Morrison to the African diaspora.[9]

Published work[]

  • Taking the Blues Back Home/Ramener le blues chez soi, Présence Africaine (translation)- 2010
  • A Rain of Words: A Bilingual Anthology of Women's Poetry in Francophone Africa, Irène Assiba d'Almeida (translation) – 2009
  • The Blind Kingdom, Véronique Tadjo (translation) – 2008
  • Mapping Intersections: African Literature and Africa's Development (with Anne Adams) – 1998
  • "Of Dreams Deferred, Dead or Alive: African Perspectives on African-American Writers",[10]
  • The City Where No One Dies, Dadié, Bernard (translation; Washington, DC: Three Continents) – 1986
  • African Literature and Africa's Development (AWP) (with Anne Adams)[11]

Achievements, honors, awards[]

  • President, African Literature Association – 2003
  • Fulbright Scholar

References[]

  1. ^ Ebony Magazine, December 1999.
  2. ^ Ebony Magazine, February 1999.
  3. ^ Gerard, Albert, European-language writing in sub-Saharan Africa, Volume 2, p. 1017.
  4. ^ "Attend an Event".
  5. ^ Syracuse University, College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Directory.
  6. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20110905154630/http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/d%27almeida.HTM. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Vickers, Robert J. "Noir Paris; Study abroad program explores historical, cultural, intellectual connections between African Americans and the 'City of Lights'." Black Issues in Higher Education, 20, no. 3 (March 27, 2003): 18. http://www.proquest.com/ and also on http://diversepodium.com/article/2842/
  8. ^ Courtney Traub, "American Author Toni Morrison Honored in Paris, Commemorates End of Slavery", About.com Guide, November 4, 2010.
  9. ^ "Toni Morrison Society Discovers Paris!" November 9, 2010.
  10. ^ The International Journal of African Historical Studies. New York: 1998. Vol. 31, Iss. 3; p. 686.
  11. ^ African Writing Online. Interview: Véronique Tadjo, A Conversation with Janis Mayes.
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