Thelma Lucille Sayles Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on 27 June 1936 and was educated at Fredonia State Teachers College, Fredonia, New York, and at Howard University, Washington, D.C. She began composing poems and writing stories at an early age and has been much encouraged by an ever-growing reading audience and a fine critical reputation. In many ways her themes are traditional: she writes of her family because she is greatly interested in making sense of their lives and relationships; she writes of adversity and success in the ghetto community; and she writes of her role as a poet.

Clifton's first book of poems is a varied collection of character sketches written with third person narrative voices. The ironically titled Good Times (1969) presents a variety of realistically drawn family and inner city community portraits. Throughout the volume Clifton seems to make conscious efforts to combat the negative...