The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry
The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and '70s saw an outpouring of creative expression and a burgeoning of black-owned cultural outlets, including publishing houses, performance spaces, and galleries. Central to this movement was the work of its poets, including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Larry Neal, Haki Madhubuti, and Carolyn Rodgers. Through their collaborations with various editors, publishers, visual artists, critics, and fellow writers, this diverse group produced a dynamic body of books, anthologies, periodicals, and audio recordings, and helped develop new critical approaches to African American literary art. The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry sheds new light on this defining literary movement, its publishing culture, and the collaborations of its participants.
The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry by Howard Rambsy II is the first serious study to concentrate on the creative and critical role of Black poets, their poetry, their publishers and the cultural, economic, and political activity their work generated in the nation. … This book is essential reading for students of the Black Arts Movement and African American studies.
— Haki R. Madhubuti, Poet, Ida B. Wells-Barnett Professor at DePaul University and the Founder & Publisher of Third World Press