Sterling A. Brown (1901-1989)

A selective list of online literary criticism for the African American poet Sterling Brown, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars, articles published in reviewed sources, and web sites that adhere to the MLA guidelines for web sites

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introduction

"Sterling Brown." Eds. Cary Nelson and Mark A. Sanders. Excerpts from influential critical commentary on Sterling Brown. Includes sections on his Life and Career; On "Memphis Blues"; On Slim Greer, his cycle of satiric poems; On "Rent Day Blues"; On "Old Lem"; On "Sharecroppers"; On "Southern Cop"; About Sharecropping; From Preface to Southern Road; Southern Road and the "New Negro Renaissance"--by J. Smethurst; Illustrations to Brown's Southern Road; "Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, Ballads and Work Songs"--An Essay by Sterling Brown; "Stray Notes on Jazz"--An Essay by Sterling Brown; A Photo Dossier on Sharecropping; About Lynching. Modern American Poetry (Univ. of Illinois).

"A Literary Tribute to Sterling A. Brown." Howard Univ. Libraries.

"Sterling A. Brown." A brief introduction, from the Academy of American Poets.

"Sterling A. Brown." Strategies for teaching themes, structure, style. Ed. by John Edgar Tidwell. From the educational publisher Heath.

"Poet E. Ethelbert Miller on Sterling Brown." Beltway: A Poetry Quarterly.

Brief review of Revenge and Forgiveness, an anthology of poems for young adults, edited by Patrice Vecchione, which includes among its selections Sterling Brown's "Bitter Fruit of the Tree." Kirkus Reviews.

Tidwell, John Edgar. An introduction to Sterling Brown from the Literary Encyclopedia, 04 July 2002 [subscription service].

literary criticism

Campbell, D.K. A Son's Return: Selected Essays of Sterling A. Brown. MELUS Winter, 1998 [first page of article only].

Camper, J. "Sterling Brown: maker of community in academia," African American Review Fall, 1997.

Gabbin, Joanne V. "Sterling Brown's poetic voice: a living legacy," African American Review Fall, 1997.

Manson, Michael Tomasek. Sterling Brown and the 'vestiges' of the blues: the role of race in English verse structure. MELUS Spring, 1996 [first page of article only].

Palmer, Ronald D. Memories of Sterling Brown in African American Review Fall, 1997.

Sanders, Mark A. "Sterling A. Brown and the Afro-modern moment." African American Review Fall, 1997.

Simmons, Hortense E. Sterling A. Brown's "Literary Chronicles." African American Review Fall, 1997.

Skinner, Beverly Lanier. "Sterling Brown: an ethnographic perspective." Says Skinner, "The ethnographic approach that Sterling Brown pioneered answers the call made by several of today's cutting-edge social scientists for a radical, multi-vocal, culturally astute approach to cultural studies." African American Review Fall, 1997.

Smethurst, James. "Southern Road and the "New Negro Renaissance." On Sterling Brown’s distinction between the term "Harlem Renaissance," which he rejected, and the term "New Negro Renaissance," a literary movement with which he identified. Brief excerpt from The New Red Negro: The Literary Left and African American Poetry, 1930-1946.

Stepto, R. "'When De Saint Go Ma'Chin' Home': Sterling Brown's Blueprint for a New Negro Poetry." Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters. Part of "Sterling A. Brown: A Special Issue" 21, 4 [paragraph only].

Thomas, Lorenzo. "Authenticity and elevation: Sterling Brown's theory of the blues," African American Review Fall, 1997.

Tidwell, John Edgar. "Two writers sharing: Sterling A. Brown, Robert Frost, and 'In Dives' Dive.'" In connection with Brown's use of Robert Frost, the meaning of "influence" as both convergence and divergence between Frost's and Brown's vision of American poetic tradition. African American Review Fall, 1997.

Traylor, Eleanor W.; R. Victoria Arana; John M. Reilly "'Runnin' space': the continuing legacy of Sterling Allen Brown." African American Review Fall, 1997.

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