me one of the most dominant voices speaking out on issues concerning black culture. (Reuben) At the time, his work was frequently published and his writing flourished. He had a broad audience. Many people were interested in his work. his work [] was an attempt to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America. (Anderson, 706) He accomplished many things in his life. he wrote in many genres; starting and continuing with poetry, he turned to fiction, autobiographies, and childrens books. (Reuben) He was a prolific writer, who had devoted his life to writing and teaching.Countee Cullen was born in 1903, in New York. He came from a strict Methodist family. At the tender age of fourteen, he began writing poetry. He attended De Witt Clinton High. His writing did not receive attention until he was in college. When he attended New York University, his poems were published in The Crisis, under the Sainte 4leadership of W.E.B Du Bois. (Johnson, 76) He won several awards for his poem. Ballad of the Brown Girl. Cullens verse was most heavily influenced by the poetry of [...] John Keats. (Anderson, 712) After that he graduated from New York University. That same year, he had his verse, Color, published. Because of that accomplishment, he went to Harvard University and got his masters degree. Countee ran into some trouble when he wrote his second volume of poetry, Copper Sun. It seemed the black community became upset because Cullen did not give the subject of race the same attention he had given it in Color. (Johnson, 76) Even though his work celebrated black beauty and deplored the effects of racism [] (Johnson, 76), Cullen considered poetry raceless []. (Johnson, 76) He wanted black poets to write in traditional verse instead of restricting themselves to only racial themes. This could have been due to the fact that he was raised and educated in a primarily white community []. (Cullen) To get away from it all, Cullen...
