Muhanji, Cherry 1939- (Jeannette Washington)

PERSONAL:

Born Jeannette Washington, April 26, 1939, in Detroit, MI; children: three. Education: University of Iowa, B.G.S., 1990, M.A., 1993, Ph.D., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Iowa City, IA. Office—School for Moral Courage, P.O. Box 10084, Iowa City, IA 52240. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Poet, writer, and former educator. Goddard College, Plainfield, VT, assistant professor, 1996-99; University of Missouri at Kansas City, interim director of black studies, 1999-2000; Portland State University, Portland, OR, 2001-06, adjunct professor, 2007—. Librarian at Women's Resource and Action Center, 1985-1993; research assistant at University of Iowa, 1990-92, 1994-96; teaching assistant at University of Iowa, 1991-1997; visiting professor at University of Minnesota, 1997-99; visiting professor at English University of Missouri at Kansas City, 1999; graduate school adjunct faculty member at Union Institute and University, 2001; curriculum director for School of Moral Courage, 2005—; board member of Mecca's Place, 2005—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Second place, Bittersweet poetry contest, 1985, for "Testament"; Outstanding Student Award, University of Iowa Black Alumni Association, 1987; Black Alumni Scholarship, University of Iowa, 1989, 1990; American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation, 1988, for Tight Spaces; Ferro-Grumy Award for Lesbian Fiction and Lambda Book Award for lesbian debut, both 1991, both for Her: A Novel; Johnson-Fernandez Woman of Color Scholarship, University of Iowa, 1993; Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship, University of Iowa, 1995.

WRITINGS:

(With Kesho Scott and Egyirba High) Tight Spaces (short-story anthology), Spinsters/Aunt Lute (San Francisco, CA), 1987, expanded edition, University of Iowa Press (Iowa City, IA), 1999

Her: A Novel, Aunt Lute Foundation (San Francisco, CA), 1990, 2nd edition, with an afterword by Mattie Richardson, 2006.

ADAPTATIONS:

Contributor of the short story "On Being a Jazz Musician" to the anthology Voices Rising, 2007. Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Common Lives/Lesbian Lives and Bittersweet. Contributor of essays to periodicals, including Other Countries, Women's Studies Quarterly, Colorlife Journal, Womanist Theory & Research, and Conditions.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, January 29, 1991, Jane Troxell, review of Her: A Novel, p. 79.

Lambda Book Report, October 1, 1990, Jane Troxell, "On Her Own: An Interview with Cherry Muhanji," p. 12.

Library Journal, March 15, 1991, Rochelle Ratner, review of Her, p. 117.

Publishers Weekly, December 25, 1987, John Mutter, review of Tight Spaces, p. 69; February 8, 1991, Penny Kaganoff, review of Her, p. 53.

Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women, spring, 1995, R.L. Widmann, review of Her.

ONLINE

Cherry Muhanji Home Page,http://myspace.com/cherrymuhanji (July 6, 2007).

School for Moral Courage Web site,http://www.schoolformoralcourage.com/ (July 6, 2007), biography of author.

VG: Voices from the Gaps,http://voices.cla.umn.edu/ (July 6, 2007), biography of author.