Countee Cullen
*Countee Cullen was born on this date in 1903. He was a Black poet.
From New York City, he was essentially a lyric poet whose work was influenced by the English poet John Keats. Much of Cullen's best work dealt with themes pertinent to the lives of Blacks, but without emphasizing dialect or stereotypes; he perceived art as universal. His several volumes of poetry include Color, Copper Sun, The Black Christ, On These I Stand, and his selection of poems he wished to be remembered.
Cullen wrote a novel about life in Harlem, One Way to Heaven (his only novel), 1932, and a children's book, The Lost Zoo, 1940. On these, I stand: 1947, The Media and Some Poems (1935), a collection of sonnets and short lyrics together with a translation of Euripides' tragedy; 1942, My Lives and How I Lost Them; and plays, including St. Louis Woman (1946), published. 1971, which ran briefly on Broadway, and The Third Fourth of July was published. 1946.
Countee Cullen, a prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance society, died on January 9th, 1946.
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History
Volume 1, ISBN #0-02-897345-3, Pg 175
Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, Cornel West
