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By Langston Hughes. Introduction. Poet and writer Langston Hughes stood at the center of the Harlem renaissance, and advocated the preservation and communication of African American traditions across the genres of music, poetry, and theater. His own poetry often used the musical patterns of spirituals and the blues as received forms.
- Robert Longley
- Phillis Wheatley. Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753 - December 5, 1784) was the first published African American poet and one of the most widely read poets in pre-19th century America.
- Old Elizabeth. Old Elizabeth (1766 - 1866) was born an enslaved person in Maryland in 1766. Elizabeth’s father, a devoted member of the Methodist Society, exposed her to religion while reading to his children from the Bible.
- Maria Stewart. Maria Stewart (1803 - December 17, 1879) was a free-born Black American teacher, journalist, lecturer, abolitionist, and civil rights activist.
- Harriet Jacobs. Harriet Jacobs (1813 - March 7, 1897) was a formerly enslaved Black American author and activist. Born into enslavement in North Carolina, Jacobs was sexually abused by her enslavers for years.
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- Langston Hughes
- Audre Lorde
- Rita Dove
- The Dark Room Collective
- Lucille Clifton
- June Jordan
- Cave Canem
- Derek Walcott
- Claudia Rankine
Brooks, who was the poet laureate of Illinois, became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her second collection, Annie Allen. Her keen insight and musical language make her writing required reading for students of poetry today. “We Real Cool” is a good place to begin.
“What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Hughesin one of his best-known lines. His name became synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance, and his work has inspired subsequent generations of black poets.
The unapologetic Lordeis equally known for her poetry and essays. In every medium, she transcended form and used words to dismantle systems of oppression.
A Pulitzer Prize winner and the country’s first black poet laureate, Dove deftly weaves together subject matter that is both personal and political. She continues to shape the conversation on modern poetryas an editor and professor.
This community of writers gave voice to the next generation of black American poets. It was founded nearly 30 years ago in Boston by Thomas Sayers Ellis, Sharan Strange and Janice Lowe, who were dedicated to nurturing and supporting black poetics. It grew to include Major Jackson, Carl Phillips, Tisa Bryant and Kevin Young, along with Pulitzer Priz...
Cliftonwon the National Book Award, was once the poet laureate of Maryland and earned two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work, legendary for its extremely modern minimalism, revolved around spirituality, womanhood and African-American identity.
As with Audre Lorde, Jordan’s political acts of speaking truth to power through creative expression were shaped in essays, poems and stories. Lorde, the founder of Poetry for the People, has continued to inspire students through her teaching since her death in 2002.
Cornelius Eady and Toi Derricotte are the founding visionaries behind this Brooklyn, N.Y.-based organization that showcases the brilliance of black poets. Together with founding faculty members Elizabeth Alexander, Afaa Michael Weaver, Michele Elliot, Terrance Hayes and Sarah Micklem, Cave Canemhosted its first retreat in 1996. During the past two ...
Walcott’s first poem, “1944,” consisting of 44 lines of free verse, was published when he was just 14 years old. For a lifetime of poetic expression, he received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1992. The committee called his work “a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.”
A razor-sharp intellect reinventing the lyric poem and the use of documentary style in poetry, Rankine often turns a close eye to the intricacies of macro- and microaggressions in the United States. Her latest book, Citizen: An American Lyric, was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
- Hope Wabuke
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Welcome to the Black Writers Collective, the online community for writers of all levels and genres. We are a passionate group of writers who come together to support each other, share resources, and hone our craft. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, the Network is the perfect place to connect with other writers and ...
Harlem Renaissance poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes. Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance reflected a diversity of forms and subjects.
Langston Hughes was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, the flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that took place in the 1920s in a number of American cities, particularly Harlem. A major poet, Hughes also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays.
This is a list of notable African American writers ordered alphabetically by surname. The term writers is here broadly defined to include philosophers, critics, journalists, sociologists, and historians as well as poets and novelists. (See also African American.
