What was the Harlem Renaissance? During World War I, Black Americans moved en masse out of the Jim Crow south, arriving in the American West, Midwest, and the Northeast, like Harlem. This movement is now referred to as The Great Migration. Black writers found opportunities to publish for the first time. Black-owned and Black-led magazines, newspapers, and full-blown book publishing (courtesy of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association) focused on publishing Black writers, about not shying away from the racial turmoil around them. This was the Harlem Renaissance. From the 1910s to the 1930s, Harlem was the center of Black culture and art in the United States. In Harlem alone, hundreds of writers were contributing to these various publications. While a few of these names have stood the test of time, still dotting bookstore shelves, many are lesser-known, even to the extent of falling entirely out of print. Nevertheless, here are eight books by or featuring these lesser-known writers of the Harlem Renaissance. These are only a handful of the lesser-known Harlem Renaissance writers, though there are many more who were only published in magazines, now finding life in collections and textbooks. Who are some of your favorites?
