This is a list of notable African American poets . For other African Americans, see Lists of African Americans .
Ron Allen , poet, playwright[1]
Elizabeth Alexander , poet, essayist, playwright[2]
Maya Angelou , novelist, poet, and activist[3]
Amiri Baraka , poet, writer, activist, and essayist[4]
Gwendolyn B. Bennett , poet, writer, journalist, and artist[5]
Arna Bontemps , poet, novelist, and librarian[6]
Gwendolyn Brooks , poet, author, teacher[7]
Lucille Clifton , poet, writer, and educator[8]
Jayne Cortez , poet, activist, publisher[9]
Countee Cullen , poet, novelist, and playwright[10]
Frank Marshall Davis , poet, journalist[11]
Paul Laurence Dunbar , poet, novelist[12]
Krista Franklin , poet, visual artist[13]
Nikki Giovanni , poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator[14]
Frances E. W. Harper , poet[15]
Yona Harvey , poet, professor[16]
Robert Hayden , poet, essayist, and educator[17]
Gil Scott-Heron , poet, author[18]
Langston Hughes , poet, activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist[19]
Erica Hunt , poet, essayist, and teacher[20]
Marilyn Nelson , poet, translator, professor[21]
Pat Parker , poet, activist[22]
Ishmael Reed , poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor, and publisher[23]
Sonia Sanchez , poet, playwright, essayist, educator, and activist[24]
Patricia Smith , poet, playwright, author, teacher, and journalist[25]
Tracy K. Smith , poet, educator[26]
Natasha Trethewey , poet, professor[27]
Alice Walker , novelist, writer, poet, and activist[28]
Phillis Wheatley , poet[29]
Richard Wright , novelist, poet, and essayist[30]
Al Young , poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor[31]
Kevin Young , poet, professor, editor, and literary critic[32]
^ Poets House Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Elizabeth Alexander: Biography and CV" . Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2009 .
^ Younge, Gary (November 13, 2013). "Maya Angelou: 'I'm fine as wine in the summertime" . The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .
^ "Amiri Baraka, legendary poet who never abandoned Newark, dead at 79" . NJ.com . January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014 .
^ "Bennett, Gwendolyn (1902-1981) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed" . www.blackpast.org . March 28, 2009. Retrieved 2018-05-10 .
^ Wynn, Linda T. (1996). "Arnaud Wendell Bontemps (1902-1973)" . Profiles of African Americans in Tennessee . Annual Local Conference on Afro-American Culture and History, Tennessee State University. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010 .
^ Watkins, Mel (December 4, 2000). "Gwendolyn Brooks, Whose Poetry Told of Being Black in America, Dies at 83" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2012 .
^ David Gura, "Poet Lucille Clifton: 'Everything Is Connected'" , NPR, February 28, 2010.
^ Academy of American Poets . "Jayne Cortez | 1934–2012" . poets.org . Retrieved 2022-03-31 .
^ Early, Gerald . "About Countee Cullen's Life and Career" . MAPS: Modern American Poetry Site . Retrieved 30 September 2022 .
^ "Frank Marshall Davis: Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Winner" . Chicago Literary Hall of Fame . Retrieved 2021-02-25 .
^ "Paul Laurence Dunbar" , Poetry Foundation.
^ Aolie, Peyton (October 15, 2015). "Krista Franklin's Like Water exhibit explores female ability to shapeshift" . The Chicago Maroon . Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
^ Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds), "Nikki Giovanni" , Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), p. 213.
^ Bacon, Margaret Hope (1989). " "One Great Bundle of Humanity": Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)" . The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography . 113 (1): 21–43. ISSN 0031-4587 . JSTOR 20092281 .
^ Schneider, Mike (June 26, 2013). "A review of Yona Harvey' s poetry collection Hemming the Water" . Pittsugh City Paper . Retrieved 17 March 2014 .
^ "Poet Laureate Timeline: 1971-1980" . Library of Congress. 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008 .
^ Preston, Rohan B. (September 20, 1994). "Scott-Heron's Jazz Poetry Rich In Soul" . The Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2011 .
^ Schuessler, Jennifer (August 9, 2018). "Langston Hughes Just Got a Year Older" . The New York Times . Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
^ Erica Hunt . Poetry Foundation .
^ "Announcing the 2012 Frost Medalist, Marilyn Nelson" . Poetry Society of America . Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017 .
^ "Rebel Girls from Bay Area History: Pat Parker, Lesbian Feminist Poet and Activist" . KQED . April 30, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019 .
^ Elliot Fox, Robert (September 20, 2011). "About Ishmael Reed's Life and Work" . Modern American Poetry website . Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2010 .
^ Jazmyn Burton, "Philadelphia names Sonia Sanchez first poet laureate" , Temple News Center, January 28, 2012. Retrieved on November 21, 2014.
^ "Library of Congress Awards Patricia Smith the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, Feb. 17" . December 22, 2014.
^ "Tracy K. Smith" . Academy of American Poets. Retrieved April 18, 2012 .
^ "Pulitzer Prize Winner Trethewey Discusses Poetry Collection" . PBS NewsHour . April 25, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2012 .
^ "Once (1968)" . Alice Walker The Official Website for the American Novelist & Poet . September 28, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2017 .
^ Scruggs, Charles (1998). "Phillis Wheatley". In Barker-Benfield, G. J. (ed.). Portraits of American Women: From Settlement to the Present . New York: Oxford University Press. p. 106 . ISBN 978-0-19-512048-6 .
^ Mullen, Bill. "Richard Wright (1908–1960)" . Modern American Poetry . University of Illinois . Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008 .
^ Genzlinger, Neil (April 23, 2021). "Al Young, Poet With a Musical Bent, Is Dead at 81" . The New York Times . Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^ Bowley, Graham (30 September 2020). "Kevin Young, Poet and Author, Is Named to Lead African American Museum" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020 .
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