Monday, July 16, 2012

African American poets


Despite the fondness for lists among bloggers and others who produce online materials, I realized that there are few available lists of African American poets. For now, I've provided a list of poets -- alphabetized by author last name -- whom I have mentioned here on the site or in my literature courses.

Eventually, I'll create alternative lists based on author birth dates another categories.

[Related: A Timeline of African American Poetry]

List of poets

• Ai
• Elizabeth Alexander
• Johari Amini
• Maya Angelou
• Amiri Baraka
• Reginald Dwayne Betts
• Tara Betts
• Tony Bolden
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Jericho Brown
• Sterling A. Brown
• James Cherry
• George Elliot Clarke
• Lucille Clifton
• Wanda Coleman
• Jayne Cortez
• Countee Cullen
• Toi Derricotte
• Mitchell L. H Douglas
• Rita Dove
• Henry Dumas
• Alice Moore Dunbar
• Paul Laurence Dunbar
• Camille T. Dungy
• Cornelius Eady
• Kelly Norman Ellis
• Thomas Sayers Ellis
• Vievee Francis
• Nikky Finney
• Cherryl Floyd-Miller
• Calvin Forbes
• Nikki Giovanni
• Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• Frances E. W. Harper
• Michael S. Harper
• William J. Harris
• Robert Hayden
• Terrance Hayes
• Essex Hemphill
• George Moses Horton
• Langston Hughes
• Major Jackson
• Tyehimba Jess
• Amaud Jamaul Johnson
• Fenton Johnson
• Georgia Douglas Johnson
• Helene Johnson
• James Weldon Johnson
• A. Van Jordan
• Allison Joseph
• Etheridge Knight
• Yusef Komunyakaa
• Quraysh A. Lansana
• Gary Copeland Lilley
• Nathaniel Mackey
• Haki Madhubuti
• Adrian Matejka
• C. LieghMcInnis
• Claude McKay
• Tony Medina
• E. Ethelbert Miller
• jessica Care moore
• Opal Moore
• Tracie Morris
• Thylias Moss
• Harryette Mullen
• John Murillo
• Larry Neal
• Marilyn Nelson
• Kevin Powell
• Dudley Randall
• Eugene B. Redmond
• Treasure Redmond
• Ishmael Reed
• Kysha Brown Robinson
• Carolyn Rodgers
• Ursula Rucker
• Mona Lisa Saloy
• Sonia Sanchez
• Angela Shannon
• Tim Seibles
• Evie Shockley
• Patricia Smith
• Tracy K. Smith
• Sharan Strange
• Melvin B. Tolson
• Jean Toomer
• Natasha Trethewey
• Quincy Troupe
• Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon
• Derek Walcott
• Alice Walker
• Frank X. Walker
• Margaret Walker
• Michael Warr
• Phillis Wheatley
• Marcus Uganda White
• Saul Williams
• Richard Wright
• Kevin Young

Related:
104 African American Volumes of Poetry by Publisher, 2000-2011 
104 Volumes of African American Poetry, 2000-2011