“Even though many of my themes were racial, I wrote my poems to make a…” — Claude McKay

“Even though many of my themes were racial, I wrote my poems to make a universal appeal.”

Insisting that protest themes need not cancel a general human address · Autobiography, A Long Way from Home, 1937

About Claude McKay

15 September 1890–22 May 1948

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…

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