Synopsis
Defiant, eloquent, and thoroughly modern, Claude McKay’s early collection of celebrated poems is widely recognized as having helped to spark the Harlem Renaissance.
In Harlem Shadows, McKay gives precise and poignant expression to the injustices of white oppression in many forms. He also paints a vivid picture of Harlem at the dawn of its rebirth and shows the tremendous vitality of the neighborhood as well as the many threats it faced. And throughout, there is a deep sense of nostalgia, reflecting McKay’s strong feelings for his Jamaican homeland. According to McKay, however, these poems were intended to capture the energetic spirit of “uprooted black vagabonds” in a natural, direct, and honest style―and his success is especially evident in the startling elegance of his metaphors. The specificity of McKay’s language continues to shine in the present even as it illuminates the past.
Revised edition: Previously published as Harlem Shadows, this edition of Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.
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À propos de l?auteur
Claude McKay (1889‒1948) was a Jamaican writer, journalist, and poet widely regarded as a key contributor to the Harlem Renaissance.
Born Festus Claudius McKay in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, McKay’s passion for reading and writing poetry began at an early age. In 1912 he published his first collection of poems, the award-winning Songs of Jamaica, then migrated to the United States, where the oppressive racism of the American South profoundly impacted McKay’s writing and activism. After he moved to New York City, McKay’s career as a writer flourished, and he became a major literary voice for the liberation of African Americans. In 1922 he published Harlem Shadows, a foundational work of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to his five other collections of poetry, McKay authored three works of nonfiction and seven novels, including the bestseller Home to Harlem, which established him as one of the most widely read Black novelists of his era.
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