Quincy Troupe

Quincy Troupe. Courtesy Works & Conversations.

Quincy Troupe
Born	Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr. July 22, 1939 (1939-07-22) St. Louis, Missouri
Occupation	poet, editor, journalist

Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr., (born July 22, 1939), is an African-American poet, editor, and academic.

Life

Youth

Troupe was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Negro League baseball catcher Quincy Trouppe (who added a second "P" to the family name while playing in Mexico to accommodate the Spanish pronunciation "Trou-pay").

Troupe Jr. attended Grambling State University on a baseball scholarship. He failed to finish either of his 1st 2 semesters, and subsequently joined the United States Army. In his free time as a soldier, he developed the passion for writing that would define his career.

Upon his return to civilian life, Troupe moved to Los Angeles, where he encountered the Watts Writers Workshop and began working in a more jazz-based style. It was on a tour with the Watts group that he began his academic life.

Career

He taught creative writing for the Watts Writers’ Movement from 1966 to 1968, and served as director of the Malcolm X Center in Los Angeles during the summers of 1969 and 1970.

In 1969, Troupe visited Ohio University with the poetry tour. He would soon be offered a position as writer in residence. In 1971, he moved to Richmond College on Staten Island in New York City, where he was a lecturer.

In 1976, Richmond College underwent a merger and became the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York. It was during this transition, Troupe later revealed, that he adjusted his curriculum vitae to include a (fictitious) bachelor's degree he claimed to have earned in 1963 from Grambling State University. He made the addition in order to possibly attain tenure, which he likely could not have done without an academic degree. The fiction would go unchallenged for nearly 3 decades.(Citation needed)

The next few years would see Troupe become a celebrity in the academic world. In 1990, Troupe moved to the University of California, San Diego as a professor of literature, where he continued to gain acclaim, and became the founding editor of Code Magazine.

Other notable Troupe works include James Baldwin: The legacy (1989) and Miles and Me: A memoir of Miles Davis (2000). He also edited Giant Talk: An anthology of third world writing (1975) and is a founding editor of Confrontation: A journal of third world literature and American Rag.

In early 2002, Troupe was named Poet Laureate of California, and took office on June 11, 2002. A background check related to the new position revealed that Troupe had, in fact, never possessed a degree from Grambling; he attended for only 2 semesters in 1957-1958, and failed most of his classes. There is no evidence that he earned any academic credits whatsoever from Grambling. He resigned from the Poet Laureate's position and retired from his post at UCSD rather than face an administrative review.

2006 saw the publishing of his collaboration with self-made millionaire Chris Gardner on the latter's autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness. The book served as the inspiration for a film of the same name later that year starring Will Smith.

Troupe lives with his wife, Margaret in Harlem, New York City, where he edits NYU's Black Renaissance Noire and continues to write.

Recognition

Troupe won an American Book Award for 1989's Miles: The autobiography (written with Miles Davis).

Troupe received the Peabody Award in 1991 for co-producing and writing the radio show The Miles Davis Radio Project. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the National Foundation for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. He briefly served as Poet laureate of California.

In 2010 he was awarded an American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Publications

Poetry

• Embryo: Poems, 1967-1971. New York, NY: Balenmir House, 1972; 2nd edition, 1974.
• Snake-Back Solos: Selected poems, 1969-1977. New York: I. Reed Books, 1978.
• Skulls Along the River.New York, NY: I. Reed Books, 1984.
• Soundings. New York: Writers & Readers, 1988.
• Weather Reports: New and selected poems. New York and London: Harlem River Press, 1991.
• Avalanche: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 1996.
• Choruses: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 1999.
• Transcircularities; New and selected poems. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, October 2002.
• The Architecture of Language. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, October 2006.
• Errançities. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2011.

Non-fiction

•  The Inside Story of TV's "Roots (with David L. Wolper). New York: Warner Books, 1978.
•  Miles: The autobiography (with Miles Davis). New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.
• Miles and Me. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000.
•  The Pursuit of Happyness (with Chris Gardner). New York: HarperCollins/Amistad, 2006.

Juvenile

• Take It to the Hoop, Magic Johnson (illustrated by Shane W. Evans). New York: Jump at the Sun, 2000.
• Little Stevie Wonder (illustrated by Lisa Cohen). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
• Hallelujah: The story of Ray Charles (illustrated by Brian Pinkney). New York: Disney/Hyperion, 2013.

Edited

• Watts Poets: A book of new poetry and essays. House of Respect, 1968.
• (Editor, with Rainer Schulte) Giant Talk: An anthology of Third World writings, Random House (New York, NY), 1975.
• James Baldwin: The legacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.

Quincy Troupe reads "Poem For Magic"

Audio / video

Poet Quincy Troupe Reading "Looking Into the Future" at 2013 NMC Gala

Recordings

• Quincy Troupe with Pianist Donal Fox (audio cassette) Videmus Records, 1996.
• Shaman Man, Quincy Troupe, Watershed Tapes, Washington, DC 1990.
• George Lewis Changing with the Times, New World Records, New York, NY, 1993.
• Root Doctor, New Alliance Records, Lawndale, CA, 1995.

See also

• African-American poets
• List of U.S. poets

External links

Poems

• Quincy Troupe at PoemHunter (2 poems)
• Quincy Troupe profile & 2 poems at the Academy of American Poets
• Quincy Troupe b. 1943 at the Poetry Foundation
• 3 poems at lacanian ink
• Poetry

Audio / video

• Quincy Troupe at YouTube

Books

• Quincy Troupe at Amazon.com

About

• Quincy Troupe at Coffee House Press
• Quincy Troupe Official website
• "Poet laureate quites over fudged resume / Creative writing director admits lying about degree," San Francisco Chronicle