- Born
- 30 May 1903
- Died
- 9 January 1946New York City, USA · aged 42
Countee Cullen
His formally crafted poetry explored race, belief and beauty, while his private correspondence opens further questions about desire.
Countee Cullen was born in the United States in 1903. His exact birthplace is uncertain, with Louisville, New York and Baltimore appearing in accounts of his early life. He was later raised in Harlem in the household of the Reverend Frederick Cullen and his wife.
An outstanding student, Cullen published “Color” in 1925 and became a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Poems such as “Heritage” and “Yet Do I Marvel” brought questions of race and faith into forms shaped by the English lyric tradition.
In 1928 he married Yolande Du Bois, daughter of W. E. B. Du Bois. The marriage ended in divorce in 1930; he married again in 1940. His close friendship with Harold Jackman, other correspondence and the treatment of desire in his poems have all contributed to queer readings of his life and work.
The surviving record offers insights as well as gaps in understanding how Cullen negotiated his private and public life. During his later years he taught French in Harlem, where James Baldwin was among his pupils. He died in 1946, aged 42.