Candace Allen Biography
Candace Allen is an American novelist, political activist, cultural critic, and screenwriter who lives in London. She was the first African American woman to join the Directors Guild of America.
Candace Allen Age
Candace Allen Education- Family
Candace Allen was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1950, and moved to Stamford, Connecticut, with her family when she was six. She obtained her BA from Harvard University, where she helped establish the African and African-American Studies Department, before attending the New York University School of Film and Television.
Candace Allen Husband
She was married to British conductor Simon Rattle from 8 January 1996 – 2004.
Candace Allen Career
She was the first African American woman to join the Directors Guild of America. Allen is a writer who has published several works, including the novel Valaida and the nonfiction book Soul Music: The Pulse of Race and Music. She also contributes to The Guardian and other media. Prior to joining the New York University School of Film and Television, she helped to establish the African and African-American Studies Department (currently led by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. She was the first African-American female member of the Directors Guild of America. In the 1970s, she relocated to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as an assistant director on feature and television films for twenty years before becoming a screenwriter. She was a founder of Reel Black Women, a professional organization for African-American women in film. She also set up and ran for four years a counselling group for young black women at Jordan High School in Watts.
In 2004, Virago Press published her debut book, a dramatized biography of the African-American female jazz trumpeter Valaida Snow. In this book, Allen “brought to life an extraordinary woman working in a predominantly male world.” Gwen Ansell reviewed the novel for JazzTimes and wrote: “Allen interacts with what it could feel like to think through and play a solo; visit sad, racist Southern towns; and argue with agents and managers. She sees Snow first and foremost as a musician. The sarcastic, weary wit of backstage conversation feels true, and the details unfold against a fascinating backdrop of pre-1960s jazz and vaudeville sets. Allen the screenwriter is clearly visible in this usage of close-up against a rich, strongly visual backdrop, as well as in the frequent crosscutting and flashback sequences.
Allen writes frequently for The Guardian in London and other publications. In 2018, she was awarded a McDowell scholarship for literature. She has contributed to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. Allen was an ardent campaigner for Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 through the organization “Americans Abroad for Obama” and thereafter became a regular radio and television commentator on US culture, race, and politics.MAllen is a board member for the Chineke! Foundation.
Candace Allen Net Worth
Allen has an estimated net worth of 600 thousand dollars.