Ted Joans (1928-2003), US poet associated with the Beat Generation writers in 1950s Greenwich Village, was influenced in equal measure by the jazz rhythms of Langston Hughes and the avant-garde aesthetics of French surrealist André Breton. Considering himself a citizen of the world, Joans spent much of his life abroad, moving to Paris in the early 1960s before settling in Mali, where his work became increasingly invested in Pan-Africanist themes. Long admired by fans and fellow poets for his exuberant personality and dynamic performances, Joans has begun to receive greater critical attention in the years since his death. He is now regarded as a poetic innovator and an important link between African-American, surrealist, and beat …
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Citation: Fazzino, Jimmy. "Ted Joans". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 December 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12978, accessed 07 October 2024.]