author
Countee Cullen
1903–1946
A leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance, this poet brought graceful, traditional forms to urgent questions about race, beauty, faith, and belonging. His work is both polished and deeply personal, which helps explain why readers still return to it today.
2 Audiobooks
Color
by Countee Cullen
The Black Christ, & other poems
by Countee Cullen
About the author
Born Countee LeRoy Porter on May 30, 1903, Countee Cullen became one of the best-known poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Raised in New York, he studied at DeWitt Clinton High School, then at New York University and later Harvard, building a reputation for literary brilliance while still very young.
Cullen's first poetry collection, Color (1925), helped establish him as a major talent. He went on to publish other important books, including Copper Sun and The Ballad of the Brown Girl, and he also wrote fiction, plays, and children's books. Readers often admire the way his work blends musical language and formal elegance with searching reflections on race, religion, love, and identity.
Alongside his writing, Cullen taught for many years in New York City. Although his life was brief—he died on January 9, 1946—his poems remain central to the story of 20th-century American literature and to the lasting legacy of the Harlem Renaissance.