Countee Cullen (1903–1946)

Author of Collected Poems

18+ Works 408 Members 1 Review 2 Favorited

About the Author

Born in New York City, Countee Cullen was separated from his mother in early childhood. He was raised in part by the Reverend Frederick Cullen, a Methodist minister. In high school, Cullen was already praised for his poetry. The poem "Life's Rendezvous" was published in a high school literary show more magazine and won first prize in a citywide contest. Educated at New York University and Harvard University, Cullen worked as an assistant editor on the Urban League's Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, writing a monthly literary column. His many awards for poetry included the first Harmon Prize for distinguished achievement in literature by a black writer, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He taught junior high school in New York City until his death. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Cullen Countee, Countee Cullen, Countée Cullen, Countee) (CULLEN, ed. Countee (1903-1946) Cullen

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Library (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Works by Countee Cullen

Popular Recent

Collected Poems (2013) 87 copies

My Soul's High Song (1991) 68 copies

Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties (1955) 51 copies

Color (1970) 48 copies

The Lost Zoo (1940) 44 copies, 1 review

Copper Sun (2023) 22 copies

The Black Christ, and Other Poems (1929) 19 copies

On These I Stand: An Anthology of the Best Poems of Countee Cullen (1947) 19 copies

America as Americans See It (1932) — Contributor — 18 copies

My Lives and How I Lost Them (1993) 11 copies

The Ballad of the Brown Girl : An Old Ballad Retold (1927) 7 copies

One Way to Heaven (1975) 5 copies

The Medea and Some Poems (1935) 4 copies

From the Dark Tower [poem] 1 copy

Yet Do I Marvel [poem] 1 copy

For a Lady I Know 1 copy

Black Theatre — Editor — 1 copy

For John Keats, Apostle of Beauty (Interpreting Literature - 5th Edition) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,472 copies, 9 reviews

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 1,016 copies, 7 reviews

The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis (2001) — Contributor — 627 copies, 11 reviews

The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance (1925) — Contributor — 511 copies, 5 reviews

The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (1994) — Contributor — 467 copies, 2 reviews

American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume Two: E. E. Cummings to May Swenson (2000) — Contributor — 443 copies, 1 review

The Black Poets (1983) — Contributor — 405 copies, 2 reviews

Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature (Mentor) (1968) — Contributor — 358 copies, 1 review

African-American Poetry: An Anthology, 1773-1927 (1997) — Contributor — 300 copies

The Norton Anthology of African American Literature {2nd edition} (2003) — Contributor, some editions — 282 copies, 2 reviews

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (2020) — Contributor — 237 copies, 4 reviews

American Religious Poems: An Anthology (2006) — Contributor — 185 copies, 2 reviews

The Vintage Book of African American Poetry (2000) — Contributor — 173 copies

The Book of American Negro Poetry (1969) — Contributor, some editions — 165 copies, 1 review

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Volume 2: 1865 to Present (1979) — Contributor, some editions — 136 copies

Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction (2002) — Contributor — 127 copies, 1 review

Voices from the Harlem Renaissance (1976) — Contributor — 126 copies

Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color (2018) — Contributor — 124 copies, 2 reviews

Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead (2007) — Contributor — 115 copies, 3 reviews

The 100 Best African American Poems (2010) — Contributor — 110 copies, 5 reviews

In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry (1994) — Contributor — 107 copies

Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America (1995) — Contributor — 105 copies

Storytelling and Other Poems (1949) — Contributor — 99 copies, 2 reviews

Make a Joyful Sound (poems for children by African American Poets) (1991) — Contributor — 96 copies, 1 review

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 73 copies, 1 review

Trouble the Water: 250 Years of African American Poetry (1997) — Contributor — 63 copies

Soulscript: Afro-American Poetry (1970) — Contributor — 46 copies, 1 review

Fairy Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2023) — Contributor — 36 copies

Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology (2022) — Contributor — 36 copies

Harlem U.S.A. (1964) — Contributor — 32 copies

Poems of Hate (Signature Select Classics) (2022) — Contributor — 31 copies, 1 review

Masquerade: Queer Poetry in America to the End of World War II (2004) — Contributor — 22 copies

Harlem: Voices from the Soul of Black America (1993) — Contributor — 15 copies

Gender in Modernism: New Geographies, Complex Intersections (2007) — Contributor — 12 copies, 1 review

Spring World, Awake: Stories, Poems, and Essays (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies

Themes in American Literature (1972) — Contributor — 5 copies

Words Among America: Sixty Poems of Challenge and Hope (1971) — Contributor — 2 copies

America arraigned! (1928) — Contributor — 1 copy

The Ethnic Image in Modern American Literature, 1900-1950, Volumes 1-2 (1984) — Contributor — 1 copy

The Ethnic Image in Modern American Literature, 1900-1950 Volume 2 (1984) — Contributor — 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Other names: Porter, Countee LeRoy (birth name)
Birthdate: 1903-05-30
Date of death: 1946-01-09
Gender: male
Education: Harvard University (AM|1926)
New York University (BA|1925
DeWitt Clinton High School (1922)
Occupations: poet
novelist
playwright
translator
teacher
columnist (show all 8)
editor
children's book author
Organizations: New York Civic Club
Alpha Delta Phi
Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life
Frederick Douglass Junior High School
Awards and honors: Phi Beta Kappa
Guggenheim Fellowship (1928)
Relationships: Du Bois, W. E. B. (father-in-law)
Bontemps, Arna (friend)
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
France
Place of death: New York, New York, USA
Burial location: Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, New York, USA
Associated Place (for map): New York, New York, USA

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Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

2 reviews

fergie5 60 reviews

The Lost Zoo by Christopher Cat

Humorous poems describe animals that missed the ark, such as the Wakeupworld, Sleepamitemore, and the Ha-Ha-Ha. Each poem teaches a moral lesson, and the tone is coy. Dark scratchboard illustrations add little to the book. Category: Nonfiction. 1991 (orig. 1940), Macmillan, 95pp.. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws. Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1991)

Jun 9, 2007