LIBRARY BLOG

The Poetry Nook

Celebrating Black Poets

Every February we come together to celebrate all the wonderful contributions that the Black community has made through science, literature, the arts, and more. In this month’s edition of The Poetry Nook, we will be highlighting the work of five American poets. From Phyllis Wheatley, the first African American to be published, to Langston Hughes, one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance, and Maya Angelou and her beloved poem “I Still Rise.”

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, the best way to experience poetry, if possible, is to hear the writer read it themselves. I have down this where possible in the following five videos. Be sure to check out Terrebonne Parish collection of items on Black poets at mytpl.org so that you can enjoy their work all year round. Enjoy!