Anthologies of African American Writing

Poetry of Black America: Anthology of the 20th Century

"The Poetry of Black America: Anthology of the 20th Century" . Ed. Arnold Adoff. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. xxxi+552 pp.

William Edward Burghardt DuBois -- James Weldon Johnson -- Paul Laurence Dunbar -- Alice Dunbar Nelson -- William Stanley Braithwaite -- Leslie Pinckney Hill -- Angelina Weld Grimké -- Anne Spencer -- Jessie Remond Fauset -- Ray Garfield Dandridge -- Walter Everette Hawkins -- Effie Lee Newsome -- Georgia Douglas Johnson -- Fenton Johnson -- Claude McKay -- Jean Toomer -- Joseph Seaman Cotter, Jr. -- Melvin B. Tolson -- Frank Horne -- Lewis Alexander -- Sterling A. Brown -- Clarissa Scott Delany -- Langston Hughes -- Gwendolyn B. Bennett -- Arna Bontemps -- Countee Cullen -- Donald Jeffrey Hayes -- Frank Marshall Davis -- Helene Johnson -- Richard Wright -- Pauli Murray -- Robert Hayden -- Owen Dodson -- Margaret Danner -- Dudley Randall -- John Henrik Clarke -- Margaret Walker -- Ray Durem -- Gwendolyn Brooks -- Samuel Allen (Paul Vassey) -- Nanina Alba -- Myron O'Higgins -- Bruce McM. Wright -- Alfred A. Duckett -- Lance Jeffers -- M. Carl Holman -- James A. Emanuel -- Adam David Miller -- Naomi Long Madgett -- Gloria C. Oden -- Mari Evans -- Oliver Pitcher -- Zack Gilbert -- Russell Atkins -- Bette Darcie Latimer -- Hoyt W. Fuller -- Lerone Bennett, Jr. -- Sarah Webster Fabio -- Ted Joans -- Sun Ra -- Raymond R. Patterson -- Sarah E. Wright -- Carl Gardner -- Gerald W. Barrax -- Herbert Martin -- Etheridge Knight -- Conrad Kent Rivers -- Calvin C. Hernton -- Audre Lorde -- Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) -- Quandra Prettyman -- Joseph White -- Bob Kaufman -- Henry Dumas -- James W. Thompson -- Jay Wright -- A.B. Spellman -- Sonia Sanchez -- Johari Amini -- Sam Cornish -- Clarence Major -- June Jordan -- Lucille Clifton -- Lebert Bethune -- Eugene Redmond -- Michael S. Harper -- Julia Fields -- Norman Jordan -- Keorapetse Kgositsile -- Ishmael Reed -- Askia Muhammad Touré -- Jayne Cortez -- Primus St. John -- Ed Roberson -- Julius Lester -- Norman Henry Pritchard II -- Al Young -- Richard W. Thomas -- Welton Smith -- Lawrence McGaugh -- Lennox Raphael -- Joe Johnson -- Sterling Plumpp -- Rob Penny -- Fred Johnson -- De Leon Harrison -- Tom Weatherly -- Conyus -- Doughtry Long -- F.J. Bryant, Jr. -- David Henderson Don L. Lee -- Carolyn M. Rodgers -- Ebon (Dooley) -- William J. Harris -- S.E. Anderson -- Quincy Troupe -- Nikki Giovanni -- Charles Lynch -- K. Curtis Lyle -- Ron Welburn -- Charlie Cobb -- Barbara Mahone -- Alice Walker -- D.L. Graham -- Lorenzo Thomas -- Stanley Crouch -- Carole Gregory Clemmons -- Calvin Forbes -- August Wilson -- Alvin Saxon (Ojenke) -- Mae Jackson -- L.V. Mack -- Felipe Luciano -- Wayne Moreland -- Pearl Cleage Lomax -- Charles Cooper -- Richard E. Grant -- Victor Hernandez Cruz -- Djangatolum (Lloyd M. Corbin, Jr.) -- Larry Thompson -- Angelo Lewis -- Elouise Loftin -- Julianne Perry.

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• Includes 600 poems by 145 authors (WorldCat).
• "Among the collections of black poetry this is outstanding. As Gwendolyn Brooks explains in the introduction, 'The collection opens with elder heralds and songmakers . . . but what surprises, of a less anthologized nature, are available.' For if W. E. B. DuBois and Paul Laurence Dunbar are represented well, so are the poets of what Brooks calls 'intensified anger, fed by amazed observation and voracious reading.' A decade or so later some of these unknown writers were found in almost all collections, others dropped out of sight, and still others enjoy a small, but loyal audience. This sharp presentation of black poetry gives the reader an amazingly varied view of life, of history, and, of course, of fine artistry. There are about one hundred and fifty poets represented, usually with at least a half dozen poems. The short biographical notes show an amazing number born in the 1920's and 1930's, with few coming from the years before. Noticeably, there is a fine share of outstanding women poets. This basic anthology should be revised to include the poets of the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. It is recommended for all libraries" ("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. 12)

not in Kinnamon 1997
• Indexed in "The Columbia Granger's Index to African-American Poetry" (1999)

A0190