Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, in Dayton, Ohio, and became one of the first African American poets to gain national and international recognition. His work explored race, identity, love, freedom, faith,…
Countee Cullen was an African American poet born on May 30, 1903, and a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance. He became famous in his early twenties for poetry that combined traditional English forms with…
Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American poet born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas, and raised mainly in Chicago. She became one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century and made…
Jim Morrison was an American poet, singer, and Doors frontman who helped define psychedelic rock in the 1960s. Born James Douglas Morrison on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida, he became famous as the lead…
E. E. Cummings was an American modernist poet born on October 14, 1894, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He became famous for experimental poetry that challenged normal rules of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and page design. Cummings wrote…
Allen Ginsberg was an American poet born on June 3, 1926, and best known for Howl, a landmark work of the Beat Generation. His writing challenged censorship, social conformity, political repression, and traditional ideas about…
Mary Oliver was an American poet born on September 10, 1935, in Maple Heights, Ohio, and celebrated for her nature poetry. She became one of the most widely read American poets of the late 20th…
Nikki Giovanni was an American poet, writer, educator, and activist born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She became one of the most important African American poets of the 20th and 21st centuries. Her…
Bob Dylan was born May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and became the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetic songs. He grew from a young folk musician in Minnesota…
Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet born on August 16, 1920, in Andernach, Germany, andbest known for his raw poetry and fiction about ordinary life. He grew up in Los Angeles, where poverty, difficult jobs,…
