Terri Jewell (b. 1954 and d. 1995), a Black, lesbian-feminist poet, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. Even though she lived in Lansing, Michigan, for many years, we are happy to claim her for the South.
In 1984, Terri Jewell attended Womonwrites: the Southeast Lesbian Writers Conference (a conference that lasted from 1979 to 2019) in Georgia. She attended Womonwrites with the Louisville League of Lesbian Writers. She published six poems in the annual anthology that Womonwrites published in 1986. Â
During her short life, Terri Jewell published one book of poetry, Succulent Heretic (Lansing, MI: Oral Tortuga Press, 1994). She also published the collection The Black Woman's Gumbo Ya-Ya: Quotations by Black Women (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1993).
Terri Jewell's book, Our Names Are Many: The Black Womanâs Book of Days (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1996), was published posthumously.
Terri Jewell's poems also appear in scores of journals and are anthologized in collections like A Fierce Brightness: 25 Years of Womenâs Poetry, When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, and If I Had My Life to Live Over, I Would Pick More Daisies.
Terri Jewell was lovingly remembered by her Louisville League of Lesbian Writers friends, who were eager to participate with our Herstory Project editors to honor this talented poet.
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Rose Norman got her inspiration from Nancy Finley. "At the time, Nancy Finley was the chair of the Sociology Department at my university.
She said, 'Letâs see who might be interested in starting a womenâs studies program.'
"She made feminism seductive, and she opened my eyes to structural causes of oppression. She walks the talk in all aspects of her life."