Chapter 11 - Diversity, Identity, and Poetry from 1970 to 2000

Summary

This chapter focuses on the period following the civil rights movements and social unrest of the 1960s, which sees a remarkable flourishing of poetry by writers hailing from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds and sexual identities. With sections on African American, Latinx, Asian American, Native American, and LGBTQ poetry, this chapter offers an introduction to the variety and richness of the various branches of multicultural poetry that emerge between 1970s and 2000 and charts the rapid and exciting diversification of American poetry during this period. The chapter examines how poets write about racial identity and ethnic heritage, the immigrant experience, assimilation, language, the ideals and the dark realities of America’s supposedly egalitarian and democratic society, and the tensions between more mainstream lyric approaches and more avant-garde poetics by poets of color. The chapter focuses on a range of representative poets including Michael Harper, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Nathaniel Mackey, Harryette Mullen, Gary Soto, Alberto Ríos, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Martin Espada, Juan Felipe Herrera, Cathy Song, John Yau, Joy Harjo, Frank Bidart, and Mark Doty.