McKay, Claude (məkā`), 1890–1948, American poet and novelist, b. Jamaica, studied at Tuskegee and the Univ. of Kansas. A major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, McKay is best remembered for his poems treating racial themes. His works include the volumes of poetry Spring in New Hampshire (1920) and Harlem Shadows (1922); and the novels Home to Harlem (1927), Banjo (1929), and Banana Bottom (1933). For years McKay was involved in radical political activities, but he became increasingly disillusioned, and in 1944 he converted to Roman Catholicism.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, A Long Way from Home (1937).

McKay, Claude

(born Sept. 15, 1890, Jamaica, British West Indies—died May 22, 1948, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) Jamaican-born U.S. poet and novelist. He published two volumes of Jamaican dialect verse before moving to the U.S. in 1912. With the publication of the poetry volumes Spring in New Hampshire (1920) and Harlem Shadows (1922), he emerged as the first and most militant voice of the Harlem Renaissance. An advocate of civil rights and racial solidarity, in his writings he searched among the common people for a distinctive black identity. His Home to Harlem (1928) was the most popular novel by an American black to that time. He lived abroad in various countries from 1922 to 1934.

McKay, Claude (b. Festus Claudius McKay) (1889–1948) writer, poet; born in Sunny Ville, Jamaica. He had already published two volumes in Jamaican dialect before he came to the U.S.A. to study at Tuskegee Institute, Ala. (1912) and Kansas State (1912–14). He moved to New York City, began to publish his poems under the pen name "Eli Edwards," and held several jobs before he went to London (1919–20) where he briefly worked for a communist newspaper. He returned to New York City and published his major work, Harlem Shadows (1922). By this time he was having an influence on the "Harlem Renaissance" and was also widely respected abroad. He lived abroad (1922–34), returned to New York in poor health, but continued to travel and write until the end. In addition to his poetry, his prolific output included novels such as Home to Harlem (1928), short stories (as in the collection Gingertown, 1932), an autobiography, A Long Way from Home (1937), and the sociological study, Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940).