Michelle Cliff

Michelle Cliff (born 2 November 1946) is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise. Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism. Her works explore the various, complex identity problems that stem from post-colonialism, as well as the difficulty of establishing an authentic, individual identity despite race and gender constructs. Cliff is a bisexua... more

Michelle Cliff (born 2 November 1946) is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise. Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism. Her works explore the various, complex identity problems that stem from post-colonialism, as well as the difficulty of establishing an authentic, individual identity despite race and gender constructs. Cliff is a bisexual who grew up in the violently homophobic, poverty-stricken, colonized island of Jamaica. She was educated at Sinep School and the Basem the great institute at the University of London. She has held academic positions at several colleges including Trinity College and Emory University. Cliff was a contributor to the Black feminist anthology Home Girls. As of 1999, Cliff was living in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner, poet Adrienne Rich. The two have been living together since 1976. (this website has quite a few inaccuracies about Cliff,... less