The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s and a time of great creativity and productivity for African American artists, writers, and musicians. Some of the most well-known and respected names in African American history come from this period, including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Duke Ellington. But the Harlem Renaissance was not only a time for male artists to shine; many women also made significant contributions to the literary world during this time. Here are seven prolific female writers from the Harlem Renaissance and a brief overview of their most influential works.
Alice Dunbar-Nelson: Nelson was born in 1875 in New Orleans and moved to Philadelphia when she was just a child. She studied at both Howard University and Columbia University and married Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the most prominent black poets of his time. While she is best known for her poetry, she also wrote short stories, essays, and plays. Her most famous works include "I Sit and Sew," "We Wear the Mask," "The Scrub Woman's Romance," and "Hester."
Angelina Weld Grimké: Grimké was born in 1880 in Boston to an abolitionist father and a mother who was descended from one of the first families of African American slaves in South Carolina. She wrote plays, poems, short stories, and essays; her most famous works include "Rachel," "Pinkertons," "The Closing Door," and "The Consuming Fire."
Anne Spencer: Spencer was born in 1882 in Virginia. A librarian by profession, she wrote poems about nature, love, religion, and race relations; her most famous works include "Unrest," "Before the Feast at Shushan," "Lines to a Nasturtium," and "Tea."
Gwendolyn Bennett: Bennett was born in 1902 in Washington D.C., but she grew up in Harlem. She studied art at Columbia University and Pratt Institute before beginning her career as an illustrator for magazines like Fire!! one of the only magazines published by and for black artists during the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to her illustrations, she also wrote poetry, short stories, and essays; her most famous works include "Wedding Day" and "To My Dark Girl."
Countee Cullen: Cullen was born in 1903 in New York City. He studied at New York University and Harvard University before embarking on a career as a poet; his most famous works include "Heritage," "For a Lady I Know,"collections like Copper Sun and My Mrs. Brown, and his Pulitzer Prize-nominated volume Of Blood, Countee Cullen is considered one of the most important poets of the Harlem Renaissance.
Nella Larsen: Larsen was born in 1891 in Chicago; she moved to New York City shortly after graduating from college with plans to become a nurse but ended up working as a librarian instead. In 1929 she published her first novel Quicksand to great critical acclaim; however, her second novel Passing was even more successful, cementing her place as one of the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance.
Jessie Redmon Fauset: Fauset was born in 1882 into a middle-class family in New Jersey; she attended Cornell University before going on to teach English at your school for girls in Philadelphia for several years. In 1924 she became the literary editor for The Crisis magazine which gave her a platform to showcase both her writing talent as well as her interest in social justice issues faced by African Americans; some of her best-known works include Novels Plum Bun and The Chinaberry Tree as well as anthologies like The Starving Drama of Adolescence and Folklore from Nova Scotia.
The Harlem Renaissance produced some of the most influential African American writers of all time—male AND female! If you're interested in learning more about this amazing period in history, be sure to check out the works of these seven prolific female writers from the Harlem Renaissance period. You won't be disappointed!