Firespitter

Jayne Cortez (1934–2012) was an African American poet, performing artist, publisher, and activist who remains widely celebrated for her political, surrealist, and dynamic innovations in language, lyricism, and visceral sound. Taking a stand against discrimination, exploitation, and ecological devastation, Cortez’s work and life probed those issues poetically and politically. As a multifaceted artist, she published a dozen volumes of poetry, including On the Imperial Highway: New and Selected Poems (2008); The Beautiful Book (2007); Jazz Fan Looks Back (2002); Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere (1997); and Coagulations: New and Selected Poems (1982); Poetic Magnetic (1991); Firespitter (1982); Mouth on Paper (1977); Scarifications (1973); and Pissstained Stairs and the Monkey Man’s Wares (1969), performed her own poems with music on ten recordings, and was the driving force behind several international conferences that combined her artistic and political concerns.

"A publication anticipated for over a decade . . . superheroic."—Christopher Spaide, Literary Hub“Cortez has been and continues to be an explorer, probing the valleys and chasms of human existence. No ravine is too perilous, no abyss too threatening for Jayne Cortez.”—Maya Angelou"A poet and performance artist whose work was known for its visceral power, its political outrage and above all its sheer, propulsive musicality."—Margalit Fox, The New York Times"At nearly seven-hundred pages, the anthology is not simply a cursory glance or “greatest” hits of Cortez’s practice, but functions as a physical reminder of the poet’s prolific output and her claim to be counted among the Black Arts Movement’s defining voices, belatedly shelved beside her peers—Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka—where she always should have been."—Macaella Gray, The Brooklyn Rail“Jayne Cortez understands better than most how to make spoken words and images swing and rock.”—Gene Seymour, Newsday"The appearance of Firespitter (Nightboat, 2025), a 600-page-plus collected poems, is immensely valuable and long overdue . . . Hers [Jayne Cortez's] is a voice—both on and off the page—that speaks with authority, curiosity, and an unshakeable faith in the power of poetry to change consciousness and change lives."—David Grundy, Poetry Foundation"The dynamic, vibrant work of poet, activist, and artist Jayne Cortez (1934–2012) is gathered in this comprehensive collection. Spanning 43 years and representing a wide range of Cortez’s creative eras, each section illuminates how expansive and genre-bending the poet’s extraordinary body of work remained over the decades . . . remarkable."—Booklist"Her speaker is so deeply embodied, and her poems are so disobedient . . .  You get this whirling vision of all he liberation struggles Cortez was directly involved in, from the Watts Rebellion to the anti-apartheid movement. Her poetry is, amongst other things, an amazing record of the times, of what political engagement looks like."—Will Harris, The Poetry Review"Ingenious."—Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise"[Cortez’s] sharp understanding of American oppression and incisive political mind have much to offer in our current moment, making this book far more than an act of archival reclamation. This is living poetry."—Walter Holland, Rain Taxi"It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that most, if not almost all, of what we know as poetry-in-performance descended from Cortez’s dedication to poetry off the page, to poetry in music and as music."—Cary Stough, Cleveland Review of Books