Harlem Shadows

by Claude McKay

First published in 1922, Harlem Shadows is the groundbreaking poetry collection by Claude McKay that helped ignite the Harlem Renaissance. In these poems, McKay confronts the realities of race, poverty, and injustice in America while also celebrating the vitality, resilience, and artistry of Black life.

Blending the elegance of traditional sonnets with the urgency of modern themes, McKay’s verses range from searing social commentary to tender reflections on love, faith, and exile. His portraits of Harlem’s streets, his meditations on identity, and his unwavering defiance against oppression gave voice to a generation and opened the way for a flourishing of African American literature.

A landmark in both modernist and African American letters, Harlem Shadows endures as a powerful testament to beauty forged in struggle and to the unyielding spirit of a people.

96 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2025

About the author

Jamaican-born American writer Claude McKay figured prominently in the Harlem renaissance of the 1920s; his works include collections of poetry, such as Constab Ballads (1912), and novels, including Home to Harlem (1928).

Home to Harlem, a best-seller, won Festus Claudius McKay, a poet and a seminal figure, the Harmon gold award for literature.
He also wrote novels Banjo and Banana Bottom . People not yet published his manuscript, called Amiable with Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem , of 1941.
McKay also authored collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, Gingertown . He authored two autobiographical books, A Long Way from Home and My Green Hills of Jamaica , published posthumously. He entitled a non-fiction, socio-historical treatise Harlem: Negro Metropolis . People published his poetry collection, Harlem Shadows , in 1922 among the first books during the Harlem renaissance. Survivors published his Selected Poems posthumously in 1953.