Birth years and aesthetic categories of Black women poets (Spoken Word and not)

What follows are the birth years of writers from a research project on recordings of Black women poets.

During the process of our research, we designated 29 poets as Spoken Word (SW) and eight poets as proto-spoken word (PSW). 

 
• Margaret Walker (1915) 

• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917) 

• Mari Evans (1919) 

• Naomi Long Madgett (1923) 

• Dolores Kendrick (1927) 

• Maya Angelou (1928) -- PSW

• Jayne Cortez (1934) -- PSW

• Audre Lorde (1934) 

• Sonia Sanchez (1934) -- PSW

• Colleen J. McElroy (1935) 

• Lucille Clifton (1936) -- PSW

• Wanda Coleman (1936) -- PSW

• June Jordan (1936) -- PSW

• Toi Derricotte (1941) 

• Nikki Giovanni (1943) 

• Pat Parker (1944) -- PSW

• Alice Walker (1944) 

• Carolyn Beard Whitlow (1945) 

• Marilyn Nelson (1946) 

• Cheryl Clarke (1947) 

• M. NourbeSe Philip (1947) 

• Angela Jackson (1951) 

• Patricia Spears Jones (1951) 

• Rita Dove (1952) 

• Camille T. Dungy (1952) 

• Monica A. Hand (1953) 

• Harryette Mullen (1953) 

• Opal Palmer Adisa (1954) 

• Thylias Moss (1954) 

• Erica Hunt (1955) 

• Patricia Smith (1955) -- SW

• Janice N. Harrington (1956) 

• Nikky Finney (1957) -- PSW

• Brenda Marie Osbey (1957) 

• Sharan Strange (1959) 

• Elizabeth Alexander (1962) 

• Vievee Francis (1963) 

• Claudia Rankine (1963) 

• Robin Coste Lewis (1964) 

• Ruth Ellen Kocher (1965) 

• Evie Shockley (1965) 

• Natasha Trethewey (1966) 

• Allison Joseph (1967) 

• Dawn Lundy Martin (1968) 

• R. Flowers Rivera (1968) 

• Giovanni Singleton (1969) 

• LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs (1970) -- SW

• Crystal Williams (1970) 

• jessica Care moore (1971) -- SW

• Treasure Redmond (1971) -- SW

• Staceyann Chin (1972) -- SW

• francine j. harris (1972) 

• Tracy K. Smith (1972) 

• Simone White (1972) 

• t'ai freedom ford (1973) 

• TJ Jarrett (1973) 

• Kamilah Aisha Moon (1973) 

• Tara Betts (1974) -- SW

• Dominique Christina (1974) -- SW

• Yona Harvey (1974) 

• Mahogany L. Browne (1976) -- SW

• Aracelis Girmay (1977) 

• Amanda Johnston (1977) 

• Rachel Eliza Griffiths (1978) 

• Erica Dawson (1979) -- SW

• Bianca Lynne Spriggs (1981) 

• Harmony Holiday (1982) 

• Tiana Clark (1984) 

• Donika Kelly (1984) 

• Eve L. Ewing (1986) 

• Aja Monet (1987) 

• Morgan Parker (1987) 

• Alysia Nicole Harris (1988) -- SW

• Angel Nafis (1988) -- SW

• Porsha (Porsha O.) Olayiwola (1988) 

• Warsan Shire (1988) 

• Jamila Woods (1989) -- SW

• Safia Elhillo (1990) -- SW

• Tonya Ingram (1991) -- SW 

• Jasmine Nicole Mans (1991) 

• Aziza Barnes (1992) -- SW

• Emi Mahmoud (1992) -- SW

• Zora Howard (1993) -- SW

• Kai Davis (1994) -- SW

• Amanda Gorman (1998) -- SW

Information on birth years not yet available for the following poets

• Samantha Adams 

• Remica L. Bingham-Risher 

• Nicole Terez Dutton  

• Ashlee Haze -- SW

• Neiel Israel -- SW

• Bettina Judd  

• Venessa Marco  

• Airea D. Matthews  

• Tracie Morris -- SW

• Jae Nichelle -- SW

• Khadijah Queen  

• Alison C Rollins  

• Safiya Sinclair  

• Ebony Stewart -- SW

• Sonya Renee Taylor -- SW

• Amber Flora Thomas  

Related:

• A Research Project on Audio Recordings of Black Women Poets