Anthologies of African American Writing

Black Poets

"The Black Poets" . Ed. Dudley Randall. New York: Bantam, 1971. xxvi+353 pp.

• Repr. New York: Bantam, 1988. xxvi+353 pp.

Lucy Terry -- Phillis Wheatley -- Frances E.W. Harper -- James Weldon Johnson -- Paul Laurence Dunbar -- Claude McKay -- Jean Toomer -- Frank Horne -- Langston Hughes -- Arna Bontemps -- Countee Cullen -- Sterling A. Brown -- Melvin B. Tolson -- Frank Marshall Davis -- Robert Hayden -- Dudley Randall -- Margaret Danner -- Margaret Walker -- Ray Durem --Gwendolyn Brooks -- James Emanuel -- Naomi Madgett -- Conrad Kent Rivers -- Etheridge Knight -- Imamu Amiri Baraka -- A.B. Spellman -- Johari Amini -- Sonia Sanchez -- June Jordan -- Lucille Clifton -- James W. Thompson -- John Raven -- Carolyn M. Rodgers -- Larry Neal -- James A. Randall, Jr. -- Welton Smith -- Ishmael Reed -- Michael Harper -- Yusef Iman -- Don L. Lee -- Doughtry Long -- Everett Hoagland -- Nikki Giovanni -- Stephany.

• n/a

• "In the introduction to "The Poetry of Black America", Gwendolyn Brooks calls fellow poet Dudley Randall 'poet-publisher-anthologist-father figure, and platform provider.' The description is apt. Concentrating on poets 'turning away from white models and returning to their roots,' Randall salutes black poetry under several broad headings. He beings with folk poetry, including folk seculars and spirituals, a fitting reminder of how much we owe to these early composers and poets. Where would American culture be today without, for example, 'John Henry' or 'Deep River'? Signed verses, which Randall labels 'literary poetry,' make up most of the collection. Such 'forerunners' as Paul Laurence Dunbar soon give way to the 'Harlem Renaissance' and finally in the 1960's to such poets as Nikki Giovanni, Ishmael Reed, and James Randall. Unlike larger anthologies, this one is limited to the better-known poets. The result is highly selective, yet highly satisfying. In its way, it presents the heart of the heart of the country" ("The Columbia Granger's Guide to Poetry Anthologies". Ed. William Katz, Linda Sternberg Katz, and Esther Crain. 2nd enlarged ed. New York: Columbia UP, 1994. 6)

Kinnamon 1997: 470
• Indexed in "The Columbia Granger's Index to African-American Poetry" (1999)

A0151