Sterling Allen Brown was an influential African-American poet, teacher, and literary critic whose poetry was rooted in folklore sources and black dialect.

A poet, essayist and professor at Howard University, Sterling Brown was born in Washington, D.C. in 1901. Brown was educated at Dunbar High School and received a bachelor's degree from Williams College. In 1929 Brown began teaching at Howard University and in 1932 his first book, Southern Road, was published.

Brown lived the majority of his life in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast Washington, DC.

His poetic work was influenced by the blues and jazz and, like Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and other black writers of the period, his work expressed his concerns about race in America. Brown is usually considered part of the Harlem Rennaissance artistic tradition although he spent the majority of his life in Washington, DC.

In the 1920s he turned his attention to writing essays and focused on his teaching career at Howard University, where he taught until his retirement in 1969. Brown published The Last Ride of Wild Bill, his second book of poetry, in 1975.

Major works include

• "Southern Road" (original poetry)
• "Negro Poetry" (criticism)
• "Drama and The Negro in American Fiction" (criticism)
• "The Last Ride of Wild Bill" (poetry)

He spent most of his career at Howard University.

Born May 1, 1901, Washington, D.C., U.S. died January 13, 1989, Takoma Park, Md. educated at Williams College, (A.B., 1922), and Harvard University (A.M., 1923).

External links

• Sterling A. Brown at Modern America Poetry
• Sterling A. Brown at The Academy of American Poets