| African
American Poets
Provided
by the staff at the West Universty
Branch Library .
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- Maya Angelou. Still
I Rise
- Memoirist, poet, and actress Angelou is a Professor of American
Studies at Wake Forest University.
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- Gwendolyn Brooks. Selected
Poems
- In 1950, Brooks became the first African American poet to win
the Pulitzer Prize.
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- Lucille Clifton. Blessing
the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988 - 2000
- Writing for both children and adults, Clifton creates poems
in celebration of life.
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- Countee Cullen. My
Soul's High Song: the Collected Writings of Countee Cullen, Voice
of the Harlem Renaissance
- Harvard-educated Cullen wrote in a more formalized style than
his Harlem Renaissance peers.
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- Rita Dove. On
the Bus with Rosa Parks
- In 1993, Rita Dove became the youngest Poet Laureate of the
United States.
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- Paul Dunbar. The
Complete Poems of Paul Dunbar
- Both of Dunbar's parents were former slaves. He worked as an
elevator operator, and published his first book of poetry in 1893.
Many consider his work to be precursory to the Harlem Renaissance.
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- Nikki Giovanni. Quilting
the Black-eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems
- A professor of writing and literature at Virginia Tech, Giovanni
has written many volumes of poetry, picture books for children,
and essay collections.
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- Langston Hughes. The
Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
- Often referred to as the poet laureate of Harlem, Langston
Hughes was the most prolific poet of the Harlem Renaissance. He
used the rhythms of jazz, blues and street language in his poems.
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- James Weldon Johnson. God's
Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
- A lawyer and poet, Johnson helped found the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People.
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- Ntozake Shange.
For
colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is
enuf: a choreopoem
- Shange's choreopoem
play, composed of twenty poems for seven actors, had a long run
on Broadway, and continues to be a national favorite.
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- Alice Walker.
Her
Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems 1965 - 1990
- Walker won the
Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The
Color Purple. Her poetry and fiction explore universal concerns
of women.
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