African American Poets - English 7 2021: Research Topics

Maya Angelou was a beloved writer, poet, performer, director, producer, and civil right activist. She survived a tumultuous and traumatizing early life to become an incredibly brave and vibrant creator who actively performed, wrote, and produced powerful and popular works for over 50 years.

Gwendolyn Brooks was an extremely prolific and highly lauded poet who began writing as a child, gained early mentorship and support from writers such as Langston Hughes, and became the first African American author to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Lucille Clifton was a poet, scholar, and educator who lived, worked, and wrote all around the United States. She wrote and published works for readers of ages, speaking about and celebrating the specific experiences of African American people, especially women, in the United States.

Countee Cullen was poet, playwright, scholar, and educator who played a major role in the artistic movement and era known as the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote and published poetry while also teaching and promoting other African American writers and artists throughout his lifetime.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar was one of the first African American poets to gain national attention and success in the United States. Born to formerly enslaved parents just over a decade after the Emancipation Proclamation, Dunbar began writing poetry as a child and in his short lifetime, wrote and published many collections of poetry, novels, short stories, a play, and lyrics for a musical.

Nikki Giovanni has been a major presence in American literature and culture since she emerged onto the literary scene in the 1960s as a poet and commentator. She writes for all ages and continues to produce powerful, relevant work today.

Angelina Weld Grimke was a writer, educator, poet, and playwright. She grew up in a complex biracial family connected to high profile abolitionists as well as firm slaveholders. She wrote and published poetry, short stories, and plays including Rachel, one of the first plays to protest lynching and racial violence.

Born to free African American parents in Baltimore several decades before the Civil War, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a prolific writer and social reform activist. She wrote poetry, essays, and short stories and she was one of the earliest African American women to publish a novel.

Robert Hayden was a scholar, writer, and poet. He drew on African American history to craft his elegant poetry and became the first African American to be appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.

Langston Hughes has become one of the most well-known and iconic poets in American culture and literature. He wrote and published poetry, plays, and an autobiography. During his career, he acted as a mentor to many other young African American poets and his influence continues to felt today.

James Weldon Johnson was a songwriter, poet, scholar, diplomat, and activist. In addition to becoming a leader in the artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, he also played a major role in the NAACP and later became the first African American professor at New York University.

Naomi Long Madgett is an educator, poet, and editor. In addition to teaching and writing poetry extensively, she founded the poetry publishing house Lotus Press, where she remains senior editor.

Claude McKay was a writer, poet, and social activist. After growing up in Jamaica, he came to the United States to study and write. While he traveled widely, he became most well known for his role as a leading voice in the New York-based literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Carolyn M. Rodgers was a writer, scholar, poet, and editor. She was involved heavily in the Black Arts Movement, wrote poetry addressing issues from the perspective of a black woman and feminist, and co-founded at least two publishing houses.

Alice Walker is a popular and acclaimed novelist, poet, scholar, and activist in the Civil Rights, feminist, and anti-war movements. Her work has won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She continues write, publish, and speak out on social issues important to her today.

Margaret Walker was a poet, novelist, scholar, and educator. As a young writer, she became involved in the South Side Writers Group, a circle of African-American writers working in the Chicago area during the 1930s. She also founded an institute to study African-American history and culture at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Afaa Michael Weaver is a poet, educator, and scholar. He grew up in Baltimore where he worked in factories for much of his early adult life while also writing poetry and studying. His writing explores a range of histories and cultures, including American, Chinese, and Jewish cultures, and reflects his varied areas of study and interest.

Phillis Wheatley was one of the most well-known writers and poets in pre-nineteenth century America. As a young child, she was captured from West Africa and forcibly transported to North America where she was sold as a domestic slave to the Wheatley family in Boston. Phillis' literary accomplishments brought her a level of international fame and made her the first African American woman to publish a book.

Elizabeth Alexander is an accomplished contemporary poet, writer, and scholar. While she was already a significant figure in the academic world, Elizabeth stepped into the spotlight of popular culture and history when she recited her work at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, making her only the fourth poet to read at an American presidential inauguration.

Audre Lorde was a writer, poet, scholar, and activist. She channeled her evolving sense of personal identity and her commitments to social activism into her writing throughout her life. Audre was a powerful voice in the civil rights and feminist movements, providing a critical intersectional perspective as a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet."

REMEMBER: If you want to use any of the databases off-campus, you will need a special username and password.  These are all listed on our MS/US Library Resource Board, accessible when you are logged into the NCS website.