In the first half of the twentieth century, the Harlem Renaissance resulted in an array of outstanding and groundbreaking art, literature, and music that still resonates with audiences today. A number of prominent black artists and intellectuals congregated in Harlem, leading to one of the most significant creative scenes in American cultural history. Some of the writers affiliated with this milieu, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, remain widely read by a variety of readers today.
A recently-discovered manuscript by Claude McKay is being published decades after it was first written. Here’s a look at that book and several others from some of McKay’s contemporaries.