Amiri Baraka was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at several universities, including the State University of New York at Buffalo and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received the PEN/Beyond Margins Award in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the Gone.
Baraka's career spanned nearly 50 years. Some poems that are always associated with him are "The Music: Reflection on Jazz and Blues", "The Book of Monk", and "New Music, New Poetry", works that draw on topics from the worlds of society, music, and literature. Baraka's poetry and writing have attracted both high praise and condemnation. Some compare Baraka to
James Baldwin and recognize him as one of the most respected and most widely published black writers of his generation.
Baraka received honors from a number of prestigious foundations, including the following: fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Langston Hughes Award from the City College of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama, an induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Before Columbus Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Dutchman(2025)
Something in the Way of Things(2007)
The Toilet(2007)
W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices(1996)
United States of Poetry(1995)
Bulworth(1998)as Rastaman
Nationtime(1972)
On the Road(2012)
Them(2021)
Dutchman Revisited(2021)as Self
Why Is We Americans?(2020)as Self
Mr. Soul!(2018)as Self
Blues America(2013)as Self - Writer
Independent Lens(1999)as Self
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project(2023)as Self
King of Stage: The Woodie King Jr. Story(2018)as Self
Richard G. Hatcher: Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer & Politician(2017)as Self
The Long Shadow(2017)as Self
Democracy Now!(2001)as Self
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues(2022)as Self
500 Years Later(2005)as Self - Poet and Activist
