Ahmos Zu-Bolton

• Name — Ahmos Zu-Bolton II • Born — 21 October 1948 • Birthplace — Poplarville, Mississippi, U.S. • Died — 8 March 2005 • Place of death — Washington, D.C., U.S. • Education — Louisiana State University

Born in Poplarville, Mississippi, Zu-Bolton grew up in DeRidder, Louisiana, near the Texas border. In 1965 he was one of several black students who integrated Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After serving in the United Staets Army in Vietnam, Zu-Bolton founded HooDoo, a magazine devoted to African-American activism and arts, published A Niggered Amen: Poems, and coedited Synergy D.C. Anthology in 1975. Zu-Bolton participated in the first Southern Black Poetry Festival at Southern University in Baton Rouge on May 3, 1972, along with poets including Haki R. Madhubuti, Margaret Danner, Jerry W. Ward Jr., Pinkie Gordon Lane, and Kalamu ya Salaam. He also opened the Copestetic Bookstore on Marigny Street in New Orleans. HooDoo later relocated to Galveston, Texas, where he organized HooDoo Festivals in the late 1970s. While living in New Orleans he taught English, African-American studies, and creative writing classes at Xavier University, Tulane University and Delgado Community College. He was Visiting Writer-in-Residence at University of Missouri.

Zu-Bolton's poetry and storytelling was about African-American oral traditions in Louisiana. He attributes it to the learned stories from his family members during front porch storytelling sessions. His books include A Niggered Amen: Poems, Ain't No Spring Chicken, and 1946: A Poem. He also wrote plays, including The Widow Paris: A Folklore of Marie Laveau, The Funeral, Family Reunion, and The Break-In.

Ahmos Zu-Bolton died of cancer on March 8, 2005 in Washington, D.C.