The emergence of African American literature, art, and music in the 1920s marked the beginning of the "The New Negro Movement." Later it was called the Harlem Renaissance. Out of the movement emerged the creation of great literature by African American writers. They wrote poetry, prose, plays, and novels. The literature ranged in subject, but race and racial identity was a common theme. The following is a list of some of the writers and a brief description of their accomplishments.
- Sterling A. Brown (1901-1989): In 1918, Brown attended Williams College. While at Williams, he received the Graves Prize for his essay, "The Comic Spirit in Shakespeare and Moliére." In 1923, he received his master's degree in English from Harvard University. His first book, Southern Road was published in 1932. Throughout many of his writings, he expressed concern about race and was influenced by the blues, jazz, work songs, and spirituals. With the arrival of the depression, he was unable to get other work published. He taught at Howard University until he retired in 1969. His second book, The Last Ride of Wild Bill was published in 1975.
- Countee Cullen (1903-1946): Cullen began writing poetry at the age of fourteen. He began attending New York University in 1922. In 1926, he received his master's degree from Harvard University. His poems were published in such magazines as The Crisis, Opportunity, Harper's, Century Magazine, and Poetry. His poem, "Ballad of the Brown Girl" won several awards. Color was published in 1923 and Copper Sun, his second volume of poetry, was published in 1927.
- Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961): Fauset graduated from Cornell University in 1905. In 1919, she received her master's degree in French. From 1919 to 1926, she was the editor of The Crisis. Besides serving as editor, she wrote and published poetry. In her novels, which include There is Confusion, Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral, The Chinaberry Tree: A Novel of American Life, and Comedy American Style, she explored race.
- Langston Hughes (1902-1967): Hughes spent a year at Columbia University, and after traveling to Europe and Africa, he finished his education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1929. His first book, The Weary Blues was published in 1926. He wrote short stories, novels, plays, and poetry. He was known for his portrayals of black life. His work had a significant impact on other contributions during the Harlem Renaissance.
