ISHMAEL REED is author of six books of poetry, one opera libretto in verse, six plays, four books of essays and nine novels, and is the editor of numerous anthologies and magazines. His poetry collaborations with musicians have resulted in three CD collections recently reissued by Rounder Records, and the forthcoming "Conjure III" from Blue Note. He has been awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award, and has been a Pulitzer Prize nominee in poetry and a National Book Award finalist in both poetry and fiction. In 2001, he received a Chancellor's Award for Community Service from the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1969. In 2003, he received the Otto Award for Political theatre, and in 2004, he received the Robert HirschAward from the Los Angeles Times.