Claude McKay (1890-1948) was a Jamaican American writer and poet who was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote several collections of poetry, novels, short stories, non-fiction, and two autobiographical books, and is best known for his poem "If We Must Die" and his first novel, Home to Harlem.

"McKay remains, despite being less well known, uniquely timeless. He's incredibly progressive for his time, especially with regard to queer politics, but what he's talking about ... are things that speak to us viscerally in the present. His fiction grasps how these forces, as possibility and problem, are reshaping the world in ways that other writers from that time don't quite address."--Eric Newman, , Los Angeles Review of Books

"What is remarkable about McKay's fiction is its rejection of sentimentality of any stripe. Unlike some of his peers in the New Negro Renaissance, McKay refuses to make his fiction 'decorous and decorative' in order to paint a flattering portrait of black life, opting instead for what he admitted could be a 'crude realism.'"--Brent Hayes Edwards, , The New York Times Book Review

"McKay (1889-1948) has long been considered one of the great authors of the Harlem Renaissance."--Sarah Begley, , TIME

Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Pub date: 2026-11-03

Length: 192 pages