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Gwendolyn Bennett |
The history of poetry is in many ways a history of groups. From the Elizabethan dramatists to the New England poets, the best artists were always friends and encouraged each other’s work. This was never more true than with the Harlem Renaissance where a dozen poets over a period of ten years created a unique and lasting body of great literature. The center of that group was Gwendolyn Bennett, a talented artist and poet herself, who also edited the magazines, kept up the correspondence, and wrote the reviews.
From 1923 to 1931 her articles in Crisis and her column in Opportunity gave Harlem poets the exposure and support they needed. Her marriage failed, she lost her home in the Depression, and her second husband died, but she kept on, finding work coordinating the activities of the Federal Writers Project and other public arts and education organizations. Een these were finally denied her and she was blacklisted for having helped her Communist friends in years past.
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Immortal Poets: Their Lives and Verse, by Christopher Burns |