Cullen, Countée

1903-46

African-Americn poet and teacher

Cullen was raised by his grandmother until her death, and then in 1918 he was adopted by the Rev. Frederick Cullen and his wife.

His first collection of poetry was published in 1925, and he was one of the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance, the famous flowering of African-American culture between the world wars, although he also spent some years as an expatriate living in France. He is considered one of America's finest poets of any period, and with Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, he is one of the greatest gay African-American writers of the century. His books include Color, Copper Sun, Ballad of the Brown Girl and One Way to Heaven. For the last 12 years of his life he taught junior high school in New York City.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Dictionary of American Biography
Shucard, Alan R. Countee Cullen. (Boston: Twayne, 1984) (Twayne's United States Authors Series; TUSAS 470)
Brooke, Aslan. "Proud History: Countee Cullen." Available at: http://www.blackstripe.com/blacklist/frontiers1.html

Indexes

African
France
USA
20th Century
Education, Teaching, Libraries
Literature
Sexuality: Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transsexuals
Formal, American/European-Type Adoption
Birth or Infancy
Grandparents
Others ("Strangers")
Single Adopters or Fosterers
Adoptive or Foster Parent(s) Died
Divorce or Premature Death of Adoptive Parent(s)