Claude McKay (1889-1948)

A selective list of online literary criticism for African American poet Claude McKay, 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 & literary criticism

An introduction to Claude McKay from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the NY Public Library.

"Claude McKay." Encyclopedia-type introduction to the poet's themes, style and techniques, with a biography and samples of poems. Poetry Foundation.

"Claude McKay." Excerpts from reputable critical articles on Claude McKay. Modern American Poetry, U of Illinois. Ed. Cary Nelson.

An introduction to Claude McKay from the Academy of American Poets.

Hathaway, Heather. A review of Caribbean Waves: Relocating Claude McKay and Paule Marshall (Indiana UP 1999). Reviewed in African American Review, Summer 2001, by Vera M. Kutzinski.

Keller, James R. "'A chafing savage, down the decent street': the politics of compromise in Claude McKay's protest sonnets." African American Review, Fall 1994.

Appel, Jacob M. "Claude McKay." "While scholar Alain Locke and novelist James Weldon Johnson attempted to make the Harlem Renaissance palatable to white audiences, Claude McKay rose to prominence as the most militant voice in the African-American literary movement." St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.

"Home At Last: The pilgrimage of Claude McKay," by David Goldweber. On Claude McKay's surprising conversion to Catholicism. Commonweal, 10 Sept. 1999.

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