Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar (born June 27, 1872 in Dayton , Ohio , † February 9, 1906 there ) was an American writer . He was one of the first African American poets to gain recognition across the United States.
Life
Dunbar was the son of ex- Kentucky slaves . He attended high school in Dayton ; there he was the only African-American in his class. One of his classmates was Orville Wright , whose family Paul's mother worked for. During his school days he showed his first literary talent, was a member of the literary circle and published the school newspaper. With the support of the Wright brothers , he was able to publish his first newspaper, The Dayton Tattler .
After high school, financial circumstances forced him to work as an elevator boy . At a meeting of the Western Association of Writers in 1892 he read poetry at the invitation of a former teacher and was so impressive that he received a letter of recommendation from the well-known poet James Whitcomb Riley . In the same year he published his first volume of poetry Oak and ivy . After moving to Chicago , he met Frederick Douglass there , who called him "the most promising young colored man in America". Dunbar's poems have appeared in popular newspapers such as the New York Times . His second collection of poems, Majors and Minors - Majors stands for texts in standard English and Minors for texts in dialect - was so successful that he was invited to a six-month lecture tour to England. On his return to America he got a job with the Library of Congress in Washington . There he met and married the author Alice Ruth Moore . Another novel and two collections of poetry were written in Washington. Several librettos were also created during this time . When Dunbar contracted tuberculosis in 1898 , he returned to Dayton and devoted himself exclusively to writing and reading. In 1902 he separated from his wife. His grave is found in the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum in Dayton.
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In his novels and poems, often using dialect , Dunbar portrayed the experiences of African Americans and the old south of the United States. His varied language enabled him to reach a wide audience.
Works (selection)
- Oak and ivy (1893)
- Lyrics of love and laughter (1903)
- Lyrics of sunshine and shadow (1905)
literature
- A. Gayle: Oak and Ivy. A biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar , Garden City, New York, 1971
- P. Revell: Paul Laurence Dunbar , Boston, Mass., 1979
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Paul Laurence Dunbar in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entries in WorldCat
- Entries at Project Gutenberg
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e biography on Poets.org
- ↑ a b c d e biography ( memento of the original dated August 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the University of Dayton site
- ↑ a b entry at Find A Grave
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dunbar, Paul Laurence |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American poet and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 27, 1872 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dayton , Ohio, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1906 |
| Place of death | Dayton , Ohio, United States |