Blast from the Poetry Past: 1968

Arnold Adoff gathered and published several anthologies of important African American poetry for young people beginning with I am the Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by Negro Americans in 1968. He also published his own original poetry with its unique and distinctive voice and use of conventions, garnering the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children for his body of work twenty years later, in 1988. His most recent work, Roots and Blues: A Celebration (2010) won another prize—the Lion and Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry.

Contemporary Connections
Other recent works of poetry that celebrate African American heritage include:

1.    Cheng, Andrea. 2013. Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. New York: Lee & Low.
2.    Grady, Cynthia. 2012. I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery. Ill. by Michele Wood. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
3.    Greenfield, Eloise. 2011. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Ill. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins.
4.    Lewis, J. Patrick. 2013. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. San Francisco: Chronicle.
5.    McKissack, Patricia. 2011. Never Forgotten. Ill. by Leo and Diane Dillon. New York: Schwartz & Wade.
6.    Myers, Walter Dean. 2011. We are America; A Tribute from the Heart. Ill. by Christopher Myers. New York: HarperCollins.
7.    Powell, Patricia Hruby. 2013. Josephine. Ill. by Christian Robinson. San Francisco: Chronicle.
8.    Rampersad, Arnold and Blount, Marcellus (Eds). 2013. Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry (reissued, reillustrated). Ill. by Karen Barbour. New York: Sterling.
9.    Smith, Charles R., Jr. 2012. Stars in the Shadows: The Negro League All-Star Game of 1934. Ill. by Frank Morrison. New York: Atheneum.
10.    Smith, Charles R., Jr. 2013. Brick by Brick. New York: Amistad/ HarperCollins.


Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.

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