Thulani Davis
Revson Fellow 2003-2004
Senior Editor and Writer
The Village Voice
Thulani Davis’s work as a writer includes theater, film, journalism, fiction and poetry. She is a Senior Editor at the Village Voice, the author of two novels, Maker of Saints and 1959, two volumes of poetry and was editor of Malcolm X, The Great Photographs. She was a screenwriter for Charles Stone’s Paid in Full (2002). She has written and narrated several television and radio documentaries, including “W. E. B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices” and was originated for the PBS series, “I’ll Make Me a World: African-American Creative Minds in the 20th Century.” She wrote the librettos for three operas: Amistad (1997); The E & O Line (1991) and X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1986). In 1993, she won a Grammy for album notes for Aretha Franklin, and was nominated for a Grammy that same year for the Opera X. Her most recent play, Everybody’s Ruby: Story of a Murder in Florida, premiered at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1999. She has received awards from the Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Writer’s Fund, the Pew Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Association of Black Journalists.
(The Revson Fellow’s biography that appears above was last updated in 2003. Revson Fellows may update their biographies on this site by sending email to: revson@columbia.edu)
The program helped not only by enhancing my skills as an advocate, but also by plugging me into a dynamic community for social change. Sitting on the Revson selection committee, I have had a unique perspective. I know the incredible quality of the people applying to be Revsons and what they are contributing to the city. A generation of activists has been refreshed and energized and sharpened by the Program.
