In the pantheon of American literary history, few figures embody the contradictions and complexities of the twentieth century quite like Claude McKay. Born Festus Claudius McKay on September 15, 1890, in the verdant hills of Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, this poet, novelist, and essayist would become one of the most powerful voices of the Harlem Renaissance, despite spending much of his life in restless exile from the m…
“I have adhered to such of the older traditions as I find adequate for my most lawless and revolutionary passions and moods.”
Neighbourhood:
African American Poets, Harlem Renaissance, Political Poets, Social Justice Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Spirituality
James Edwin Campbell was born on September 28, 1867, in Pomeroy, Ohio, and died there on January 26, 1896, before he had reached his twenty-ninth birthday. His life was brief, but it was unusually full: he was a teacher, school principal, educational organizer, newspaper editor, essayist, public speaker, and poet. Most enduringly, he was an important early African American literary artist whose poems preserved the sp…
Neighbourhood:
African American Poets, American Poets, Folk & Ballad Poets, Harlem Renaissance, Love Poets, Social Justice Poets
Emotional landscape: Wonder, Sensuality, Joy
