Ntozake Shange, Pioneering Playwright best known for “For Colored Girls who have considered suicide, dead at 70

Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist and pioneering playwright, has died reports the Star Tribune.

She was 70.

Ntozake Shange passes away

According to reports, Shange had suffered multiple strokes in recent years. But she had been on the mend lately, creating new work, giving readings and being celebrated for her work.

Shange died in her sleep Saturday morning in an assisted living facility in Bowie, Md., where she lived.

“Zake was a woman of extravagance and flourish, and she left quickly without suffering,” said Ifa Bayeza, her sister who also is a playwright and theater artist.

“It’s a huge loss for the world. I don’t think there’s a day on the planet when there’s not a young woman who discovers herself through the words of my sister.”

Pioneer

Shange was known for the monumental choreopoem, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

The book inspired generations of women of color discover their voices. The book was adapted as a movie by Tyler Perry in 2010.