Selected Poems of Calvin C. Hernton

The definitive guide to Calvin C. Hernton's poetic career, re-introducing readers to a major voice in American poetry. Hernton was a cofounder of the Umbra Poets Workshop, a participant in the Black Arts Movement, R. D. Laing's Kingsley Hall, and the Antiuniversity of London, and a teacher at Oberlin College. This volume includes a generous selection of Hernton's previously published poems, from classics like The Distant Drum to the visionary epic The Coming of Chronos to the House of Nightsong, reprinted in full for the first time since 1964, alongside uncollected and unpublished material from the Calvin C. Hernton papers at Ohio University, a new critical introduction, and detailed notes, chronology, and bibliography.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press

Calvin C. Hernton was a cofounder of the Umbra Poets Workshop, a participant in the Black Arts Movement, R. D. Laing's Kingsley Hall, and the Antiuniversity of London, and a teacher at Oberlin College who counted amongst his friends bell hooks, Toni Morrison, and Odetta. As a pioneer in the field of Black Studies, Hernton developed a theoretical and practical pedagogy with lasting impact on generations of students. He may be best known as an anti-sexist sociologist, following in the footsteps of W.E.B. Du Bois, but Hernton viewed himself, above all, as a poet. This volume includes a generous selection of Hernton's previously published poems, from classics like the often anthologized The Distant Drum to the visionary epic The Coming of Chronos to the House of Nightsong, reprinted in full for the first time since 1964, alongside uncollected and unpublished material from the Calvin C. Hernton papers at Ohio University, a new critical introduction, and detailed notes, chronology, and bibliography.

I am not a metaphor or symbol. This you hear is not the wind in the trees. Nor a cat being maimed in the street. I am being maimed in the street It is I who weep, laugh, feel pain or joy. Speak this because I exist. This is my voice These words are my words, my mouth Speaks them, my hand writes. I am a poet. It is my fist you hear beating Against your ear.

Calvin C. Hernton was a cofounder of the Umbra Poets Workshop, a participant in the Black Arts Movement, R. D. Laing's Kingsley Hall, and the Antiuniversity of London, and a teacher at Oberlin College who counted amongst his friends bell hooks, Toni Morrison, and Odetta. As a pioneer in the field of Black Studies, Hernton developed a theoretical and practical pedagogy with lasting impact on generations of students. He may be best known as an anti-sexist sociologist, following in the footsteps of W.E.B. Du Bois, but Hernton viewed himself, above all, as a poet. This volume includes a generous selection of Hernton's previously published poems, from classics like the often anthologized The Distant Drum to the visionary epic The Coming of Chronos to the House of Nightsong, reprinted in full for the first time since 1964, alongside uncollected and unpublished material from the Calvin C. Hernton papers at Ohio University, a new critical introduction, and detailed notes, chronology, and bibliography.

Weight: 430g
Dimension: 153 x 228 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780819500366