Cullen, Countée

Cul·len (kŭlʹən), Countée. 1903-1946.

American poet whose collections Colors (1926) and Copper Sun (1927) established him as a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance.

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orig. Countee Porter

born May 30, 1903, Louisville, Ky.?, U.S.

died Jan. 9, 1946, New York, N.Y.

U.S. poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

Reared in New York City, he was unofficially adopted at age 15 by a minister. He won a citywide poetry contest and later attended New York and Harvard universities, winning academic honours. His first collection of poems, Color (1925), received critical acclaim while he was still in college. Copper Sun (1927) was criticized in the black community for not giving enough attention to the issue of race. He taught in the city's public schools from 1934 until his death.

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▪ American poet

in full  Countee Porter Cullen  

born May 30, 1903, Louisville, Kentucky?, U.S.

died January 9, 1946, New York, New York

 American poet, one of the finest of the Harlem Renaissance.

      Reared by a woman who was probably his paternal grandmother, Countee at age 15 was unofficially adopted by the Reverend F.A. Cullen, minister of Salem M.E. Church, one of Harlem's largest congregations. He won a citywide poetry contest as a schoolboy and saw his winning stanzas widely reprinted. At New York University (B.A., 1925) he won the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Major American literary magazines accepted his poems regularly, and his first collection of poems, Color (1925), was published to critical acclaim before he had finished college.

      Cullen received an M.A. degree from Harvard University in 1926 and worked as an assistant editor for Opportunity magazine. In 1928, just before leaving the United States for France (where he would study on a Guggenheim Fellowship), Cullen married Yolande Du Bois, daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois (Du Bois, W.E.B.) (divorced 1930). After publication of The Black Christ and Other Poems (1929), Cullen's reputation as a poet waned. From 1934 until the end of his life he taught in New York City public schools. Most notable among his other works are Copper Sun (1927), The Ballad of the Brown Girl (1928), and The Medea and Some Poems (1935). His novel One Way to Heaven (1932) depicts life in Harlem.

      Cullen's use of racial themes in his verse was striking at the time, and his material is always fresh and sensitively treated. He drew some criticism, however, because he was heavily influenced by the Romanticism of John Keats (Keats, John) and preferred to use classical verse forms rather than rely on the rhythms and idioms of his black American heritage.

Additional Reading

Short, critical introductions to the poet's life and works include Houston A. Baker, Jr., A Many-colored Coat of Dreams (1974); and Alan R. Shucard, Countee Cullen (1984).

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