Understanding the New Black Poetry by Stephen Henderson

Published February 5, 2023

This poetry anthology focusing on “Black speech & Black music as poetic references” was written by Stephen Evangelist Henderson (1925–1997) – who is not to be confused with actor and director Stephen McKinley Henderson (b. 1949). H. Rambsy comments:

Henderson devotes considerable energies to illuminating black components of black poetry in the extended introduction of the work. Rarely do popular anthologies go to such lengths to situate the poets and poetry in distinct cultural or racial contexts.

First published in hardback by William Morrow & Co. in 1973, this is the paperback edition that followed the same year. The cover exclusively uses ITC Busorama, making use of some of its numerous alternates. Most notably, the subtitle features right-leaning A’s in the left half and a left-leaning one in the right half, creating symmetry around the centered ampersand.

See also the cover for John Lahr’s Astonish Me. Adventures In Contemporary Theater, published by Viking Press in 1973, and the poster for Martha Graham Dance Company at the Royal Opera House, designed by Richard Bird and Michael Mayhew in 1979.

Title page with a pairing of Americana and Monotype Baskerville.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

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