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November 9, 2023 | History
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Claude McKay

Festus Claudius McKay (September 15, 1890 – May 22, 1948) was a Jamaican-American writer and poet, and a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

Born in Jamaica, McKay first traveled to the United States to attend college, and encountered W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk which stimulated McKay’s interest in political involvement. He moved to New York City in 1914 and in 1919 wrote "If We Must Die", one of his best known works, a widely reprinted sonnet responding to the wave of white-on-black race riots and lynchings following the conclusion of the First World War.

Photo of Claude McKay

Jamaican American writer, poet (1889–1948)

Born 1890
Died 1948

37 works Add another?

  • Cover of: A Long Way from Home (Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the Americas)
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    Cover of edition longwayfromhome00mcka First published in 1937 — 20 editions
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  • Cover of: Harlem shadows: poems
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    Cover of edition HarlemShadows Cover of edition harlemshadowspoe00mckauoft First published in 1922 — 19 editions
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  • Cover of: Home to Harlem
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    First published in 1928 — 12 editions
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  • Cover of: Banana Bottom (The Black Classic Series from X Press)
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    Cover of edition bananabottom0000mcka First published in 1933 — 10 editions
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  • Cover of: Selected poems
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    First published in 1953 — 10 editions
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  • Cover of: Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience
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    Cover of edition prenticehalllite00na Cover of edition prenticehalllite00duer Cover of edition prenticehalllite0000unse_y5z1 Cover of edition prenticehalllite0000unse_i1u3 First published in 1999 — 9 editions
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  • Cover of: The poetry of the Negro, 1746-1949
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    Cover of edition poetryofnegro1740000hugh Cover of edition poetryofnegro1740000unse First published in 1949 — 8 editions
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  • Cover of: Banjo
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    Cover of edition banjostorywithou00mcka First published in 1929 — 8 editions
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  • Cover of: Songs of Jamaica

    First published in 1912 — 8 editions
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  • Cover of: Spring in New Hampshire and other poems
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    First published in 1920 — 7 editions
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  • Cover of: The United States in Literature
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    Cover of edition unitedstatesinli0007edunse Cover of edition unitedstatesinli1985mill First published in 1985 — 5 editions
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  • Cover of: Prentice Hall: Literature: The American Experience
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    Cover of edition prenticehalllite11koel Cover of edition prenticehalllite0000unse_z5s3 Cover of edition prenticehalllite00koel_0 First published in 1989 — 5 editions
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  • Cover of: Selected Poems: Claude Mckay

    First published in 2012 — 4 editions
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  • Cover of: The passion of Claude McKay: selected poetry and prose, 1912-1948.

    First published in 1973 — 4 editions
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  • Cover of: Romance in Marseille

    First published in 1922 — 4 editions
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  • Cover of: Complete poems
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    First published in 2004 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: Harlem Glory: A Fragment Of Aframerican Life

    First published in 1988 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: The dialect poetry of Claude McKay : two volumes in one
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    First published in 1953 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: Gingertown

    First published in 1932 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: The United States in literature
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    First published in 1973 — 2 editions
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Photo of Claude McKay

Jamaican American writer, poet (1889–1948)

Born 1890
Died 1948

Subjects

Fiction, African Americans, Poetry, History, American literature, American poetry, Classic Literature, Union, hanging, short story, African American authors, American Civil War, Confederacy, Drama, Jamaican Americans, Juvenile audience, Social life and customs, United States Civil War, civil war, American Horror tales, American drama, Blacks, Children's fiction, Confederate States of America, Fiction, general

Places

Jamaica, Alabama, Owl Creek Bridge, United States, Harlem (New York, N.Y.), England, Massachusetts, Andover, Barbados, China, Eastern Europe, Mallard residence, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Milford meeting house, Missouri, Salem, Salem (Mass.), Soviet Union, kingdom by the sea, Florida, Fountain of Youth, France, Marseille (France), N.Y.) Harlem (New York, New England

People

Peyton Farquhar, Claude McKay (1890-1948), Devil, Ethelred, Madeline Usher, Roderick Usher, Abigail Williams, Amanda Wingfield, Ann Putnam, Annabel Lee, Arthur Miller (1915-), Aylmer, Betty Parris, Brently Mallard, Bridget Bishop, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Proctor, Ezekiel Cheever, George Herrick, George Jacobs, Georgiana, Giles Corey, God, Jim O'Connor, John Hale

Time

1861-65, 19th century, 20th century, 1861-1865, American Civil War, 1692, Civil War, 1861-1865, Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775, 1600s, Civil War, December, To 1964, carnival

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Alternative names

  • Claude McKAY
  • McKay, Claude, 1890-1948

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
November 9, 2023 Edited by merge authors
August 29, 2021 Edited by Jenner Fill in bio
August 29, 2021 Edited by Jenner merge authors
August 14, 2021 Edited by LibraryDude33 Changed Author
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import