Ntozake Shange (1948–2018) was born Paulette Williams in Trenton, New Jersey, and worked as a poet, playwright, and novelist. Her choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, first performed in 1975 and staged on Broadway in 1976, was performed by an ensemble of seven women and received Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award nominations. She earned a BA from Barnard College and an MA from the University of Southern California. Her poetry collections include nappy edges (1978) and a daughter's geography (1983).
