Carl Hancock Rux

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Carl Hancock Rux, (b. March 24th, 1971, Harlem, New York) is an African American poet, playwright, novelist, recording artist, and essayist who crosses and fuses disciplines in his art. His writing and spoken word performances incorporate the rhythms and oral traditions of the African American diaspora while being grounded in the classical Western canon. He is the author of the Village Voice Literary prize winning collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta the novel Asphalt and the OBIE award winning play Talk. Rux is also Head of the MFA Playwrights Program at California Institute of the Arts.

1 Bio
2 Published Works
3 Discography
4 Plays, Performance Works
5 Bibliography
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] Bio

Born Carl Stephen Hancock in Harlem, New York, Carl Hancock Rux's biological mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia while he was still an infant. After his grandmother died when he was four, he and his brothers would grow up separately in foster homes. He was eventually adopted by his maternal uncle and aunt, who legally added Rux (of German/French Huguenot derivation) to his name. A graduate of the LaGuardia High School (where he studied both visual art and voice), and an alumnus of Columbia University, Carl Hancock Rux began his career as a playwright with Song of Sad Young Men, produced off-Broadway in 1990 at the Producer's Club Theater, directed by Tony award winning actress Trazana Beverly and starring actor Isaiah Washington (ABC's Grey's Anatomy). The play, a social commentary on the effect of AIDS and homelessness on the African American community, was written in response to Rux's older brother's death from AIDS in 1989. Carl Hancock Rux is among several poets and spoken word artists to emerge in the early 90s from the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe on New York's Lower East (Paul Beatty, Tracie Morris, Dael Orlandersmith, Willie Perdomo, Kevin Powell, Maggie Estep, Reg E. Gaines, Edwin Torres, Saul Williams, Tish Benson). In 1994, after the release of the anthology, Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Rux was selected by the New York Times Magazine as One of Thirty Artists Under The Age Of Thirty Most Likely to Influence Culture Over The Next Thirty Years(others included Academy Award winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pulitzer prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, choreographer Ron Brown, rapper Nas, singer Audra McDonald,pop music DJ Moby, and theater composer Adam Guettel). In 1998, upon the publication of his first book of poetry, Pagan Operetta, he received the Village Voice Literary prize and was featured on the weekly's cover story; Eight Writers on the Verge of (Impacting) the Literary Landscape. In 2004, upon publication of his first novel, Asphalt, Rux was featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine.is a recipient of the Village Voice Literary Prize, Fresh Poet Award, National Endowment for the Arts/Theater Communication Group Playwright in Residence fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Gregory Millard fellowship, NYFA Prize, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts (CalArts), Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) 10 Arts & Artists in Progress Award. He is the subject of the Voices of America television documentary, "Carl Hancock Rux, Coming of Age", (Larry Clamage/Richard Maniscalo producers) was the recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Award. A frequent radio essayist and guest host (XM Radio's The Bob Edwards Show; WNYC "Soundcheck") Rux co-wrote and narrated the radio documentary, "Walt Whitman; Songs of Myself" (Elena Park/Curtis Fox producers), awarded the 2006 New York Press Club Journalism Award for Entertainment News.

Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

[edit] Published Works

Pagan Operetta (poetry) Autonmedia Press

Talk (play) TCG Press

Asphalt (novel) Atria/Simon & Schuster,

Everything But the Burden; What White People Are Taking from Black Culture by Greg Tate (Editor) Broadway Books/Random House

DeCapo's Best Music Writing 2004 (essays) DeCapo Press

Aloud; Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (poetry) by "Miguel Algarin", "Bob Holman" (Editors) Henry Holt

Soul's Survival; Black Power, Politics and Pleasure (essays) by Green & Guillory (Editors) NYU Press.

Korper Lust Sprache (poetry) Literatur zur Zeit Konzepte Press/ Berlin, Germany,

Action! Nuyorican Theater Festival Anthology (drama) by Miguel Algarin, Lois Griffith (Editors) Touchstone/Simon & Schuster,

Listen Up! Spoken Word Poetry (poetry) by Zoe Anglesey (Editor)World / Ballantine

Go The Way Your Blood Beats; African American fiction by Sean Stewart Ruff (Editor) Henry Holt

Open City 13 by Thomas Beller (Editor),

NKA Literary Journal by Okwi Enwezor (Editor) Cornell University Press

Poetry On Stage by Danne Hughes (Editor) Poho Press

Fire & Spirit: African American Poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller (Editor) Syracuse University Press

Beyond The Frontier Black Classic Press

Heights Of The Marvelous St. Martin's Pres

Def Jam Poetry by Louis Reyes Rivera, Tony Medina (Editors) St. Martin's Press

Bum Rush The Page Three River Press

[edit] Discography

Rux Revue (Sony/Epic), produced by the Dust Brothers,Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, featuring drummers Joey Waronker (formerly of REM), and keyboardists Atom Ellis and James Hall. Voted one of the top ten alternative music CDs of 1998 (New York Times/Year in Music)

Apothecary Rx (Giant Step), Co-produced by Carl Hancock Rux and Stewart Lerman with Rob Hyman (formerly of the Hooters). Features experimental jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins,and Brazilian percussionist Venecius Cantuera

Good Bread Alley (Thirsty Ear Records) Produced by Carl Hancock Rux, mixed by Peter Gordon, Dave Darlington, C. H. Rux, music by C. H. Rux, Jaco van Schalkwyck, David Holmes, Vernon Reid, Leroy Jenkins, Venecius Cantuera, Bill Withers

[edit] Plays, Performance Works

As a writer and frequent guest performer in dance, his collaborators have included Marlies Yearby, the Urban Bush Women, Jane Comfort, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rux received a BESSIE© award for his direction of the Lisa Jones/Alva Rogers dance musical, Stained (1994). As an actor, Rux originated the title role in the Robert Wilson/Bernice Johnson Reagon folk opera production of The Temptation of St. Anthony, based on the Gustave Flaubert novel written in 1874. The production debuted in Germany in June, 2003 as part of the RuhrTriennale festival in Duisburg Germany and was subsequently performed in Spain, France and England that summer, touring over the next three years throughout Italy, Holland and Spain. Its New York premiere was produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Next Wave Festival. The company became the first African American ensemble to perform at the Paris Opera (Garnier).

[edit] Bibliography

Total Chaos: The Art And Aesthetics of Hip-hop, Jeff Chang (Editor) Basic Civitas Books

Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid (Mediaworks Pamphlets)

In a Word : An Article from: Stage Directions by Stephen Peithman (Digital)

All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop by Vladimir Bogdanov (Editor)

To Make Our World Anew : A History of African Americans by Robin D. G. Kelley

Brave New Bass: Interviews and Lessons with the Innovators, Trendsetters and Visionaries by Chris Jisi (Editor)

A Companion To Twentieth-Century American Drama (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture) by David Krasner (Editor)

Hip: The History by John Leland (Ecco Press)

Black Men: In Their Own Words by "Susan L. Taylor" (Contributor), Patricia Mignon Hinds (Editor)

Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Manhattan by Aaron Zwas, Kristen Couse

Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s by Robert Christgau (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Your Negro Tour Guide : Truths in Black and White by "Kathy Y. Wilson" (mmis Books)

The African American Writer's Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print by Robert Fleming One World/Ballantine

Dramatists Sourcebook 2002-03 Edition: Complete Opportunities for Playwrights, Translators, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists by Kathy Sova (Editor), (TCG Press)

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz by Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler (Oxford University Press)

In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights by Victor Wishna/Ken Collins (Photography)