SOURCE: Clifton, Lucille, and Charles H. Rowell. “An Interview with Lucille Clifton.” Callaloo 22, no. 1 (1999): 56-72.

In the following interview, originally conducted on August 2, 1998, Clifton discusses the themes of African-American ancestry and identity in her poetry.

This interview was conducted August 2, 1998, by telephone between Charlottesville, Virginia, and Columbia, Maryland.

[Rowell]: I would like to begin this interview with your memoir Generations, which was published in 1976. Why did you write Generations? What is its origin? What set you in motion to write it?

[Clifton]: Well, I had been thinking about it for a long time. I was thinking about the stories my father used to tell about his family. And I knew that his memory was an interesting story. It was interesting to me. Plus I felt very fortunate in knowing the name of the ancestor—of one of them—who came from Africa, because we don't usually know that...