Five Black Poets to Read in Honor of National Poetry Month
All month long, April marks the 26th celebration of National Poetry Month.
Inspired by Black History Month and Women’s History Month, the Academy of American Poets convened in 1995 to create a month dedicated to literacy after seeing an increased interest in poetry. In April 1996, the month was officially established and observed as National Poetry Month.
Since then, as the month has gained the title of “the largest literary celebration of the world,” the celebrations have grown to include poetry readings and a virtual Poetry & the Creative Mind gala to be held on April 28.
To honor and commemorate National Poetry Month, here are five Black poets who have made their own mark on poetry.
Gwendolyn Brooks: Known as one of the most influential and respected poets of the 20th century, Brooks gained recognition for her writing about the everyday lives of Black Americans. Interested in words from a young age, she first started submitting her writing to magazines at the age of 13 when her first poem was published in a children’s magazine. After sharing her work regularly in magazines like the Chicago Defender, in 1945, Brooks published her first book of poetry, “A Street in Bronzeville.” Four years later, Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for her second work of poetry, “Annie Allen,” making her the first Black American to win it. Other works by her include “The Bean Eaters,” “Riot” and “Family Pictures.”
Margaret Walker: Having found her passion to write at the age of 15 when she entered college, Walker became a prominent figure in the literary movement known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. In 1942, Walker published her first book of poems, “For My People.” The collection of poems focused on topics such as enslavement, racism as well as resilience and a hope for a better future. For her work, Walker won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition, making her the first Black woman to win a national writing award. After the publication of “For My People,” Walker stepped away from poetry and published “Jubilee,” a historical novel inspired by her great-grandmother’s life. Other works by Walker include “October Journey” and “This is My Century: New and Collected Poems.”
Lucille Clifton: Having already attended Howard University, Clifton made herself known to the public when her friend and fellow writer, Ishmael Reed, shared her work with Langston Hughes who included her writing in one of his anthologies. In 1969, she published her first book of poems, “Good Times”. Throughout the years, her poems have ranged in topics from perseverance and the lives of Black Americans to the strength of Black women’s bodies. For her writing, Clifton has won the National Book Award for Poetry and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize twice. In addition to “Good Times,” Clifton’s other works include “Two-Headed Woman” and “Quilting: Poems 1987-1990.”
Claude McKay: Taught poetry by his older brother, Uriah Theophilus McKay, Claude McKay went on to become one of the most influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Jamaica, McKay moved to the U.S. using the money he earned from his first published book, “Songs of Jamaica,” where he eventually moved to Harlem. In 1917, the writer published poems to magazines such as the Seven Arts, Pearson’s Magazine and the Liberator under the pen name Eli Edwards. Amongst these publications was the poem “If We Must Die,” a poem about Black rights and a call to fight back against discrimination and opression. Themes in his writing include racial oppression and the treatment of Black Americans as outsiders in society. In addition to “Good Times,” other works by McKay include “Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems”and “Harlem Shadows.”
Al Young: As a poet, the late Al Young’s work revolved around the merging of two of his interests- writing and music. Focused on giving his writing a musical element, Young crafted it so that he could read it along with musical accompaniment. Music, specifically jazz and blues, was also a common topic of his writing. Later on in his career, after he first published his first poetry book in 1969, Young dedicated himself to writing musical memoirs. In these musical memoirs, he mixed reflections on music with personal anecdotes. The works of Young include “Dancing: Poems,” “The Blues Don’t Change: New and Selected Poems” and “Drowning in the Sea of Love: Musical Memoirs.”
