McKay, Claude

Impact on the world

His 1922 poetry collection 'Harlem Shadows' established him as a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance and a direct influence on younger writers including Langston Hughes, before his 1928 novel 'Home to Harlem' became the first commercially successful novel published by a Black writer in the United States, going through five reprintings within two months despite, or partly because of, controversy over its frank depiction of Harlem nightlife.

Life & background

Born in Jamaica, McKay came to the United States for college before settling in Harlem in 1914. His 1919 poem 'If We Must Die,' written in the traditional sonnet form he favored throughout his career even while voicing radical resistance, became one of his best-known works, and his 1922 collection 'Harlem Shadows' established him as a leading literary voice who directly mentored and corresponded with younger poets including Hughes. His 1928 novel 'Home to Harlem,' about a young army deserter during World War I, became the first commercially successful novel by a Black writer in American publishing history, though some Black critics condemned its frank depictions of Harlem's nightlife and underworld as harmful to the broader push for positive racial representation. He followed it with the novels 'Banjo' and 'Banana Bottom,' supported communism and traveled to the Soviet Union during the 1920s, and later converted to Catholicism, settling in Chicago to teach for Catholic organizations until his death.

Sources

1. HISTORY.com (7 Writers of the Harlem Renaissance); Encyclopedia.com (Harlem Renaissance)