Nikki_Giovanni_speaking_at_Emory_University_2008 photo by Brett Weinstein-Wikimedia

15 Best Black Poets of All Times


 

Poetry is food for the soul and over the centuries different influential poets have released poetry that are still been studied today.

Poets have a way of cooking words in a simple yet sophisticated manner, particularly this is more vibrant in Black poets who wrote about a myriad of topics that tell the realities of the black race in their respective eras.

Here are the most 15 popular African poets of all time

1. Mayou Angelou

One of the most renowned African poets of the 20 century, Mayou Angelou born Marguerite Annie Johnson was a popular, poet, an American Memoirist, and a civil right activist.

Mayou’s poetry explores numerous themes including love, loss, women, music struggle, discrimination, and racism.

Her poems are referred to as anthems of Africa by many and have taken a root in the web of popularity, her poem, “still, I Rise “was even recited by the famous Nelson Mandela.

She is famously remembered for her brilliant poem, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings “. The poem unfolds the tales of the poet’s life up to the age of 17 and it brought her international recognition and acclaim.

2. Hughes, Langston

Langston_Hughes photo by Jack Delano-Wikimedia

Known as James Mercer Langston Hughes was a novelist, social activist, and an American poet.

He was the leader of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, and fashion. He is acknowledged as the creator of the jazz poetry columnist.

His poetry is often recognized by its lyrical patterns. Some of his notable works are, “The Negro Speaks of River, Mother to Son, and the Weary Blues. He died as a result of complications from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967.

3. Walker Alice

Alice Malsenior is a writer, social activist, American novelist, and poet. She was the first African American Woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

She has published 9 volumes of poems; her poetry has a life of its own and it reveals the experiences of black women.

Some of her notable works include “Once, The Kiss, expect nothing, and Horses make a landscape look more beautiful.

4. Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni is a world-renowned African American poet. She was greatly inspired by the Black Power and Civil rights movement in the United States in the late 1960

Her work encompasses poetry analogies, nonfiction essays, and poetry recordings. She has won numerous awards, such as the Langston Hughes Medal. Some of her loved poems include “Balances, “choices, and “Kidnap Poem.

5. Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka photo by Frankie Fouganthin-Wikimedia

Whole Soyinka is not only an African novelist remembered most for being a dramatist and a controversial writer of his generation but also a poet.

Experts describe him as an individual with a wide cultural perspective whose poetic overtones build the drama of existence.

Here are some of his famous poems, “Dedication,I think It Rains, and Night.

6. Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was an African American author and is considered to be the first African American author of a published book of poetry.

Her poetry stems from the history of her life as she was kidnapped and then sold into slavery just at the age of seven to eight.

She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, though she was bought she was taught how to read and write, and was even encouraged in writing poetry.

Though her poetry left many astonished, tragedy caught up to her, she died as a result of pneumonia and which was worsened by poverty. She died on December 5th, 1784, at 31 years of age.

7. Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most influential highly regarded African American poets. She was an honored poet not only in her works but to her fans who widely read her poems, making her one of the most-read poets of the 20th century.

She was the first black to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen.

Experts credit her work with having a strong commitment to racial identity and equality, with a touch of mastery in poetic techniques. She is believed to have succeeded to bridge the gap between the Black militant writers of the 1960s and the academic poets of the 1940s.

In 1968, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois, a title, she held until her death in the year 2000. Here are some of her famous poems, “We Real Cool, the mother, and Bean Eaters.

8. Baraka Imamu Amiri

Amiri_Baraka photo by David Sasaki –Wikimedia

Amiri Baraka who was previously known as Leroi Jones Imamu was an American writer of poetry, essays, fiction, and a music critic.

His works have been described by experts as constituting defining texts for African American culture. He won the PEN /Beyond Margins Award in 2008, for his works, Tales of the Out and Gone.

The themes of his poems spread from Black liberation to White racism. His notable works include “The Music: Reflection on Jazz and Blues.”,” The Book of Monk”, and “New Music, New Poetry”.

9. Cullen Countee

Cullen Countee was one of the most influential voices during the Harlem Renaissance. He was also an American poet playwright and novelist.

He strongly believed poetry surpassed race and it could be used as a tool to bring two opposing forces close together. Some of his poems include,” Heritage”, and “Atlantic City Waiter”.

10. Audre Lorde

Known as Audrey Geraldine Lorde, she was a civil rights activist, a radical feminist, and an American writer and poet. She is confidently and unapologetically self-described as “black, lesbian, mother and poet”.

She is well-appreciated for her technical mastery and emotional expression in her poetry. The Poetry Foundation described her poems as powerful, melodic, and intense.

Her poetry largely focuses on themes relating to civil rights, feminism, lesbianism, and disability. Her first poetry was published in 1968, “The First Cities”, it was her first poetry collection published.

11. Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Paul_Laurence_Dunbar photo by Kell-Wikimedia

Paul Laurence was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born to parents who were enslaved in Kentucky and he began his writing career as a child.

He gave his first recitals at the age of 9 and by the age of 16 his poem “Our Martyred Soldiers“. And “On the river “, was soon published in Dayton the Herald newspaper.

It is believed he had mastery over poetic materials and poetic technic to bring about the themes his poetry carried.

Though he left a significant poetry mark on the Black community, his life was cut short and he died of tuberculosis just at the age of 33.

12. Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton was an American poet, educator, and writer. She was the Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985, she was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Some of her best works include, Good woman: Poems and a Memoir:1969_1980.

13. Etheridge Knight

Etheridge Knight was an American poet born on April 19, 1931. What makes his story interesting is that he began his poetry writing while he was held up in jail.

 He was arrested in 1960 for robbery and was served an eight-year-long sentence. His critics and other writers referred to his work as a first-rate influential realism and his verses have become imperative in black literature.

Some of his notable poems are, “Poem for Myself, As You Leave me, and Cell Songs.

14. James Emanuel

James Emmanuel was a scholar from Alliance Nebraska and a poet whom critics rank as one of the best poets and perhaps also one of the most neglected poets of the 20th century.

He has published more than 300 poems, and 13 books and has blessed the world with a great anthology of African American Literature.

 Some of his notable works are “A Fool for Evergreen, Fishermen, and For A Depressed Woman.

15. Rita Dove

Rita Dove photo by Gage Skidmore-Wikimedia

Rita dove was an American poet and essayist; she served as a Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the library of Congress.

She was the first African American to hold that position which was created by an act of Congress in 1986. Some of her notable works include “American Smooth” and “Banneker”.

 

 

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