Knight, Etheridge, 1931-1991

Ethridge Knight Jr. (son of Etheridge Sr. and Belzora Cozart Knight) was born in Corinth, Mississippi, on 19 April 1931. He grew up in Corinth and Paducah, Kentucky, attended local schools and dropped out after the eighth grade. He joined the United States Army in 1947. He was wounded during the Korean Conflict and developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol. After his discharge from the service he turned to crime in support of his habit and in 1960 was arrested for armed robbery. He was incarcerated in the Indiana State Prison from 1960 to 1968. While in prison he began to write poetry and submitted his writings to publishing houses. After many rejections his first work was published in 1965. After his release from prison he married fellow poet Sonia Sanchez. They divorced and he married two more times. He authored five books of poetry and a wide range of articles in periodicals and anthologies. He served as poet or writer-in-residence at several universities and colleges and received numerous awards. In November 1988 he was injured by a hit-and-run motorist in Philadelphia. He returned to Indianapolis after his accident, and remained there until his death 10 March 1991.

Born in 1931 in Mississippi and raised in Kentucky, Knight did not finish high school and left home at 17. He served in the Army from 1947 to 1951 as a medical technician in Korea. By 1949 his family had moved to Indianapolis, Ind. In 1960 Knight was sentenced to the Indiana State Prison for robbery. While there he studied poetry and published his first book in 1968, receiving parole later that year. He continued writing, publishing, speaking, and holding poet-in-residence positions in spite of continuing drug, alcohol, legal, and marital problems. He died in Indianapolis in 1991.

Afro-American poet.

Etheridge Knight is an African-American poet and editor.