#stephen cleary

Nina Simone, b. February 21, 1933 / 2026

Nina Simone (w/ Stephen Cleary): I Put a Spell On You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone (1991)

Alan Light: What Happened, Miss Simone? A Biography (2016)

What better way to transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month than with an absolute icon for both of these yearly celebrations: the incomparable, uncompromising High Priestess of Soul: Nina Simone.

A classically-trained prodigy, she rose from poverty to Carnegie Hall, overcoming racial and artistic boundaries along the way with her sheer talent and fierce determination, ultimately producing a body of work as eclectic and complex as her mercurial spirit.

At a time when the music industry demanded "palatable" black performers, Nina publicly embraced the Civil Rights issues of the day head-on; and she was one of the first celebrities to embrace African-inspired fashion and to proudly sport an Afro, flatly rejecting white standards of beauty.

She paid a hefty price for her activism and stubborn defiance; pegged as "difficult" in music industry circles and far worse in the world beyond, Nina's unique and multi-dimensional story must be viewed through different lenses, which is why I felt the need to read both of these books.

Her autobiography provides an intimate look at her formative years and how her dogged determination to carve out a musical career evolved into an obsession with the Civil Rights dream, leaving her lost and embittered after the movement dissipated.

But while Simone acknowledges the toll her intransigence took on her relationships (rejecting her beloved father in the last days of his life arguably being the most cruel), like any autobiography, hers fails to clarify some of the key events and personal dynamics involved.

This is where Alan Light's What Happened, Miss Simone? comes in: building off the acclaimed documentary of the same name through valuable interviews with her daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, and longtime bandmates like Al Schackman to shed light (no pun intended) on the great diva's, uh ... less admirable diva behavior.

Often volatile, arrogant, confrontational, and always unapologetic, Nina would just as soon antagonize her loved ones (e.g. her tempestuous relationship with husband and manager Andrew Stroud) as her audience, though her demand for total silence during performance stemmed from her classical training.

But Light also elaborates on Simone's rich interaction with Civil Rights leaders and intellectuals, sensitively addresses her bisexuality (never mentioned in the autobiography), sorts through the chaos of Nina's time living in Africa and Europe, and documents her later career and final days.

In the words of her daughter, who surely experienced Simone at her best and worst like no one else:blac "She never stopped speaking out against injustice. I think that Mom's anger is what sustained her, really what kept her going. It just became who she was."

At a time when millions of white Americans are learning what black and brown Americans have felt all lives -- that their own government is out to get them -- Nina Simone's unrequited indignation can be better understood, not as a some kind of personality, let alone a mental disorder, but as living with ful conscience and eyes-wide-open.

Featured Records:

Nina Simone: Nina at the Village Gate (1962)

Nina Simone: Nina Simone in Concert (1964)

Nina Simone: I Put a Spell On You (1965)

Nina Simone, with Stephen Cleary, (1991), I Put a Spell on You. The Autobiography of Nina Simone, Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1993, pp. 86-88

Screenwriting workshops from acclaimed Film & TV professional Stephen Cleary and Film Network Ireland this week in Dublin #IrishScreenSkills

Film Network Ireland host two screenwriting workshops in Dublin this week with one of the worlds leading authorities on writing for film and tv, Stephen Cleary.

https://vimeo.com/365594454

Wed 23rd& Thurs 24th Oct Power, Gender & New Story Structures More info and booking here

https://vimeo.com/365596236

It’s Alive! Horror Screenwriting Sat 26th&Sun 27th Oct More info and booking