Claude McKay

Claude McKay was a Jamaican-born writer and poet who became a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His work ranged from Jamaican vernacular verse in Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads to politically charged poems such as “If We Must Die,” as well as novels including Home to Harlem and Banana Bottom. After studying in the United States, he worked across poetry, fiction, journalism, essays, and autobiography, bringing Jamaican, African American, and international experiences into his writing.