Sink your teeth into a new book from one of these contemporary Black poets.
“Poetry is language at its most distilled and powerful.” – Rita Dove.
When many people think about poetry, they automatically think of older white poets like Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Dr. Suess, or T.S Elliot. There are also a ton of incredible Black poets that most history and literature classes fail to recognize. Yes, we know of the late, great Maya Angelou, but there are so many unrecognized Black poets making statements in the world. Luckily, we found these 4 contemporary Black poets all book lovers need to read.
A successful Black poet with six collections of poetry under her belt is Claudia Rankine. Her works include: Just Us: An American Conversation, Citizen: An American Lyric, and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely. She also wrote three plays and collaborated on many videos and poetry anthologies. She is a co-founder of The Racial Imaginary Institute (TRII) and is a Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University. Over the years, Claudia has received many awards and honors, as well as being a fellowship recipient to many organizations and associations. She currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut.
If you are looking for a Black poet that is non-binary and queer, look no further than Danez Smith. Danez has won many awards, including the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and more. They’re also a recipient of fellowships from many organizations and associations including, the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, and more. Danez lives in St. Paul, MN. Their popular works include Homie, Don’t Call Us Dead, and [insert] boy.
We can’t forget about U.S. poet laureate, Tracy K. Smith, on our list. Born in Massachusetts but raised in California, Tracy has been taking the world by storm with her works, including: The Body's Question, Duende, Life on Mars, Wade in the Water, and Ordinary Light. She has won many awards like the James Laughlin Award, the Essence Literary Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Most notably, she was the first African-American poet to win the best first book for a Cave Canem prize. Today, you can find her teaching creative writing at Princeton University or hosting American Public Media's daily radio program and podcast The Slowdown.
Fellowship recipient from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Jericho Brown, is a contemporary Black poet you need to check out ASAP. He’s won many awards, including: the Whiting Award, the American Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Paterson Poetry Prize. His most notable works include: Please, The Tradition, and The New Testament. His poems have been in notable magazines and publications like Buzzfeed, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time Magazine, and more. Currently, he is a professor and director of creative writing at Emory University.
Which one of these contemporary Black poets is your fave? Or, did we miss someone on our list? Let us know by shooting us a DM on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
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