UI Press | Frank Marshall Davis | Black Moods: Collected Poems

Black Moods

Collected Poems

Recovering politically potent poems from the long-lost father of modern black poetry

Black Moods collects for the first time all of Frank Marshall Davis's extant published poems as well as his previously unpublished work. From sharp-edged sketches of Southside Chicago's urban landscape to the prismatic world that lay beneath Hawaii's placid surface, Davis's muscular poems blend social, cultural, and political concerns--always shaped by his promise to "try to be as direct as good blues."

John Edgar Tidwell's introduction examines both Davis's poetry and his politics, presenting a subtle portrait of a complex writer devoted to exposing discriminatory practices and reaffirming the humanity of the common people.

"What makes reading Davis' poetry worthwhile is his vivid use of imagery, which operates as the engine behind his writing. . . . Tidwell rightfully proclaims that Frank Marshall Davis is a powerful voice that should not be forgotten."--Michael V. Williams, Black Issues Book Review

Frank Marshall Davis (1905–87) was an editor, reporter, columnist, and critic. His poetry collections include Black Man’s Verse (1935), I Am the American Negro (1937), and 47th Street: Poems (1948). John Edgar Tidwell is an associate professor of English at the University of Kansas.