John A. Williams

John Alfred Williams (born 5 December 1925) is an African American author, journalist and academic.

Williams was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and, after naval service in World War II, graduated in 1950 from Syracuse University. His novels, which include "The Angry Ones" (1960) and "The Man Who Cried I Am" (1967) are mainly about the black experience in white America.

In the early 1980s, Williams and the composer and flautist Leslie Burrs, with the agreement of Mercer Ellington, started to collaborate on the completion of Queenie Pie, an opera by Duke Ellington which had been left unfinished at his death. The project fell through, and the opera was eventually completed by other hands. [ [http://www.operaworld.com/special/queenie.shtml Opera World, Queenie] ]

In 1970 Williams received the Syracuse University Centennial Medal for Outstanding Achievement, [ [http://archives.syr.edu/archives/awards/centennial.html Syracuse Centennial Medal] ] and in 1998 his "Safari West" won the American Book Award. [ [http://www.bookweb.org/btw/awards/The-American-Book-Awards---Before-Columbus-Foundation.html American Bookseller's Association] ] He is a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

In 2003, Williams performed a spoken word piece on "Transform", an album by rock band Powerman 5000. At the time, his son Adam Williams was the band's guitarist.

External links

* [http://www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=2972 Williams Online Exhibit at the University of Rochester]

References