The Art and Life of Clarence Major

Introduction. Performing Transgression, Seeking Community

[ i n t r o d u c t i o n Performing Transgression, Seeking Community Clarence Major is an artistic renaissance man; he is a painter, fiction writer, poet, essayist, editor, anthologist, lexicographer, and memoirist. For the first three of these, he must be considered a professional. He has pursued them since childhood and has won awards in all three. He has been part of twenty-eight group exhibitions, has had fifteen one-man shows, and has published fourteen collections of poetry and nine works of fiction. Although he has never achieved the fame of other writers of his generation, such as Toni Morrison or Ernest Gaines, he has a substantial reputation among those interested in experimentation in the arts. He is a technician, working and reworking problems in composition in his various arts. He also thinks across genres, such that a poem or novel is fractured or layered like a modern painting or a painting hints at character or narrative . His life is experimental as well, stabbing out in various directions and toward numerous identities. He has been married four times, has had many jobs, primarily in academia, has established a wide array of contacts throughout the world, has been connected to a number of the avant-garde movements of the last fifty years, and has challenged many of the social and racial conventions of U.S. society. Together, these suggest a man seeking different paths for himself, never content with what is 2 ] introduction assumed about him or expected of him. He tries out different roles, moves into different circles. At the same time, his is also a very American story of childhood in the rural South and coming-of-age in the urban North, of initiative and persistence in pursuit of a distinctive self and unique career. After a childhood in a broken, abusive Georgia home and a scrambling life as a bohemian artist, he has settled into life as a distinguished author and painter with a beautiful home in the California suburbs. It is the story of this life and career that I wish to tell. When I was considering what shape this book would take, I had a conversation with Joe Weixlmann, who was then editor of African American Review, about writing a life of Clarence Major. He seemed the logical person to talk to; after all, the journal had done two special issues on Major, and Weixlmann’s areas of expertise are African American literature and contemporary fiction, especially its experimental forms. He warned me that although Major is an intriguing subject, he could also be reticent and distant if he were offended or felt intruded upon. I am grateful that my experience has been very different; he has been responsive to all my questions, both in person and in e-mail correspondence. He has provided names, dates, and explanations, even in matters where he had concealed information in his own autobiographical statements. Sometimes he would reveal things only when I posed very pointed questions. For example, early in my research I was initially confused when comparing the dates of his first two marriages and divorces with the birthdates of his children. Reluctant to raise what might be a sensitive subject, I cautiously asked him directly about the discrepancies . Not offended at all, he very straightforwardly explained that the first two children he had with Olympia Leak were born while he was still married to Joyce Sparrow. Similarly, he has suggested a number of places holding material by and about him and has opened his house (and garage) so that I could see his paintings. He has sent photographs of family members and made copies of works that are not available anywhere else. His cooperation has made it much easier to tell a detailed story of his life and career. Why has my experience differed so much from Weixlmann’s prediction ? I think it very much has to do with what I see as the central theme of Major’s life and career. It is a story of paradox. On the one hand, he has defined both his life and his art as transgressive of conventions. On the other hand, he has sought approval from and connections to those who could appreciate who he is and what he does. Moreover, he is perfectly will- performing transgression [ 3 ing to operate within the mainstream culture as long as his individuality is not...