AAS 359 — Twentieth Century and Contemporary African American Poetry (Sanders)

Conversations with Yusef Komunyakaa brings together over two decades of interviews and profiles with one of America's most prolific and acclaimed contemporary poets. Yusef Komunyakaa (b. 1947) describes his work alternately as "word paintings" and as "music," and his affinity with the visual and aural arts is amply displayed in these conversations.

This series is designed specifically to meet the curricular needs of undergraduate college students studying poetry. A quick but information-rich reference source, each volume of Poetry for Students provides analysis of 16 poems that teachers and librarians have identified as the most frequently studied. Re: Natasha Trethewey "Native Guard."

From the 39th poet laureate comes the universal prescription for a broken heart. Robert Pinsky has gathered together magical words of heart-mending solace from across the centuries to read in times of trouble. With an introduction by Pinsky, this unique volume includes the works of an astounding range of poets -- William Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Frank Bidart, Wallace Stevens, Frank O'hara, Louise Gluck, W.B. Yeats, Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickenson, among others.

The dynamic course of Afro-American literature from oppression through protest to liberation is depicted in the anthology. Long and Collier have added contemporary writers, introductions, and head notes to make this the most comprehensive, up-to-date anthology available. From Phillis Wheatley to Alice Walker and Gwendolyn Brooks, from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King and Amiri Baraka, the Afro-American writers are represented here.

African American Haiku: Cultural Visions offers insights into African American poets' innovations in the haiku form, shedding light on a neglected aspect of black poetry. Notable scholars present new interpretations of well-known works. Essays trace the verse of five major African American haiku poets: Richard Wright, James Emanuel, Etheridge Knight, Sonia Sanchez, and Lenard D. Moore.

The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry offers a close examination of the literary culture in which the Black Arts Movement's poets (including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Larry Neal, Haki Madhubuti, Carolyn Rodgers, and others) operated and of the small presses and literary anthologies that first published the movement's authors.

Poetry. Drama. California Interest. African & African American Studies. Women's Studies. "Parker stayed woke to black suffering, violence against black bodies—especially those of black women—to the suffering engendered by multiple, egregious oppressions. With THE COMPLETE WORKS OF PAT PARKER, we are allowed an opportunity to historicize Pat Parker's significance to black women's literary traditions, lesbian erotics, to black queer struggles and black feminism, and to global social justice movements. She was in her time. Now, with this important text, she will be in all time to come."

A new perspective on the role of religion in the work of Langston Hughes   Langston's Salvation offers a fascinating exploration into the religious thought of Langston Hughes.  Known for his poetry, plays, and social activism, the importance of religion in Hughes' work has historically been ignored or dismissed. This book puts this aspect of Hughes work front and center, placing it into the wider context of twentieth-century American and African American religious cultures. Best brings to life the religious orientation of Hughes work, illuminating how this powerful figure helped to expand the definition of African American religion during this time.

This text surveys African American poetry between the onset of the Depression and the early days of the Cold War. It considers the relationship between the thematic and formal choices of African American poets, and organized ideology from "proletarian" early 1930s to the "neo-modernist" late 1940s.

Included in this extraordinary volume are the poems of 43 of America's most talented African American wordsmiths, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poets Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Tracy K. Smith, as well as the work of other luminaries such as Elizabeth Alexander, Ishmael Reed, and Sonia Sanchez. Included are poems such as "No Wound of Exit" by Patricia Smith, "We Are Not Responsible" by Harryette Mullen, and "Poem for My Father" by Quincy Troupe. Each is accompanied by a photograph of the poet along with a first-person biography.

Presents an introduction to the poetry of the Pulitzer Prize winning Rita Dove, who was the first African American poet laureate of the US. Charting Dove's evolution as a poet, this title offers analyses of her artistic development, bringing to light the musical sense of form and expression of history that permeates her work.

Seventeen writers, educators, and close friends of the late poet contribute their praise through this collection of brief anecdotes from actual encounters with Gwendolyn Brooks. The contributors relate the poet's influences on their art, their lives, and the world; expressing their indebtedness for the revolutionary language of her poems, her universal maternity, and her outstanding kindness. Some of Brook's most influential poems are included such that this tribute keeps her words and wisdom alive.

Writing and composing with honesty and humanism, Lucille Clifton is known for her themes of the body, family, community, politics, womanhood, and the spirit. While much of her work deals with the African American experience, she does not limit herself to that perspective, addressing topics common to all women, to all people. This timely and important biography will give readers a glimpse into the life and work of this important and revered African American poet, writer, and educator, exploring themes that run throughout her writing, as well as the personal obstacles she faced and overcame.

Robert Hayden: 1913-1980
Criticism and interpretation; African American poets;Biography

This is not just another poetry anthology. It is a gathering of poems that demonstrate what happens when writers in a marginalized community collectively turn from dedicating their writing to political, social, and economic struggles, and instead devote themselves to the art of their poems and to the ideas they embody. These poets bear witness to the interior landscapes of their own individual selves or examine the private or personal worlds of invented personae and, therefore, of human beings living in our modern and postmodern worlds.

Hip-Hop is the largest youth culture in the history of the planet rock. This is the first poetry anthology by and for the Hip-Hop generation. It has produced generations of artists who have revolutionized their genre(s) by applying the aesthetic innovations of the culture. The BreakBeat Poets features 78 poets, born somewhere between 1961-1999, All-City and Coast-to-Coast, who are creating the next and now movement(s) in American letters.

Dowdy uncovers and analyzes the primary rhetorical strategies, particularly figures of voice, in American political poetry from the Vietnam War-era to the present. He brings together a unique and diverse collection of poets, including an innovative section on hip hop performance.

From one of America's most celebrated poets, Nikki Giovanni, comes this poignant collection of poetry that celebrates the simple pleasures of everyday life and the bonds we share with those closest to us. "This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet's power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America's treasured poet."--San Francisco Book Review

This important look at CAP combines historical research and analysis with the author's first-hand experience with the organization, providing the first historical narrative of a consequential player in the Black Power Movement.