Poet Lucille Clifton passed away recently at the age of 73. The New York Times recalled that Clifton: "...received a National Book Award in 2000 for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000, published by BOA Editions. In 2007, she became the first African-American woman to win the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a $100,000 award that is one of American poetrys signal honors.

Her book Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir, 1969-1980 (BOA, 1987) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1988."

Her relationship with the 92Y Poetry Center dates back to 1969, when she won our Discovery (http://bit.ly/9I2mhl) poetry contest.

In tribute to her we are sharing the clip above, from her reading of Voices on Nov 3, 2008. Clifton reads four poems, Out of Body, Mataoka, Albino, and Cream of Wheat.

Unterberg Poetry Center webcasts and access to our archive are made possible in part by the generous support of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.