Claude McKay

Born in Jamaica in 1890, he grew up in rural Clarendon and began writing poetry early, first publishing in Jamaican dialect. He later moved to the United States, where he became one of the defining literary figures of the Harlem Renaissance.

His writing often confronted racism, injustice, and displacement with unusual force. Poems such as If We Must Die and books including Home to Harlem helped make him widely known, while his life in the United States, Europe, and North Africa gave his work an international reach that set him apart from many of his contemporaries.

Later in life, he continued to write memoir, fiction, and poetry while reflecting on politics, faith, and belonging. He died in 1948, but his work remains central to the story of modern Black literature and to the broader history of twentieth-century poetry.