Assotto Saint (Yves Lubin)
Assotto Saint (1957-1994) immigrated to Queens from Haiti at age nineteen. He was a longstanding member of Blackheart and Other Countries, two writing workshops run by and for black gay men. His poems and performance writing appeared in the groundbreaking anthologies_ In the Life _(1986), edited by Joseph Beam and _Brother to Brother,_ edited by Essex Hemphill (1991). He founded Galiens Press, publishing two books of his own poetry, Stations (1989) and Wishing for Wings (1994), and editing and publishing two anthologies: _The Road Before Us: 100 Gay Black Poets _(1991) and Here to Dare: A Collection of Ten Gay Black Poets (1992).
In addition to his prodigious work as a performer, poet, activist, editor, and publisher, Assotto wrote and produced multi-media theatre performances, including Risin’ to the Love We Need (1981), _Black Fag _(1985), and New Love Song (1989). With his partner, Jan Holmgren, he founded Xotika, an art rock band, and formed Metamorphosis Theater as a way to produce his theater works. and Saint was outspoken about living with AIDS, and appeared in Marlon Riggs' 1993 documentary Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regret). He died in New York on June 29, 1994. A posthumous collection of his writings, Spells of a Voodoo Doll, was published in 1996.