Anthologies of African American Writing

Celebrations: A New Anthology of Black American Poetry

"Celebrations: A New Anthology of Black American Poetry" . Ed. Arnold Adoff. Intro. Quincy Troupe. Chicago: Follett, 1977. xvii+285 pp.

"thematically arranged contributions by eighty-five Afro-American poets" (WorldCat).

• "This anthology, prepared by a teacher in the New York public schools, is aimed primarily at students. It can, however, also be appreciated by anyone who is interested in current black poetry. Some eighty-five writers, male and female, are represented by two hundred forty poems. All were written in this century, and many are by highly regarded black writers. These include Robert Hayden, Sterling A. Brown, Dudley Randall, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ishmael Reed, Amiri Baraka, and Audre Lorde. The poems are arranged thematically into such sections as 'Young Soul,' 'True Love,' and 'Myself When I am Real.' The taste of the compiler is reliable and challenging" ("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. 8).

• "Over 200 poems by contemporary black American writers celebrating their lives, ancestry, loves, adversities, blackness, all joyous and proud; poems extol African history, black American community, personal identity, music, heroes; includes well known and lesser known--e.g., Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Mari Evans, Robert Hayden, Sam Cornish, Joyce Carol Thomas; fierce pride and rededication distinguish eulogies to civil rights heroes like King, Rap Brown, Bobby Seale; although by blacks about blacks, feelings explored are universal; badly needs explanatory notes for classroom users (seldom identifies people, places, events treated in poems); biographical notes help some; useful supplement to black literature programs" ((“Advisory List of Instructional Media for Languages.” North Carolina State Dept. of Public Instruction, Raleigh, Division of Educational Media, 1978. ERIC [https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED167179.pdf])

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