UMBRA; David HENDERSON (editor). Umbra Anthology 1967–1968.

Precursor to the Black Arts Movement

UMBRA; David HENDERSON (editor). Umbra Anthology 1967–1968. New York: The Society of Umbra. [1967.]

8vo. Stapled as issued in the publisher’s illustrated card wrappers by Billy Morrow Jackson printed in black, red, and blue (design repeated to rear wrapper), printed price of $1 to upper wrapper; pp. 66 [6]; wrappers included in pagination with text to inner covers, with black-and-white photographs and reproduction of paintings throughout; wrappers lightly soiled and worn with a few marks and minor creases to extremities; spine lightly worn with c. 60-mm split; uniform light toning; otherwise good.

The third issue of Umbra, one of the most influential African American literary magazines, bringing together poetry, art and political activism in 1960s New York, and an important precursor to the Black Arts Movement.

The Umbra Poets’ Workshop was founded in 1962 by a group of predominantly African American writers, including Thomas Dent, Calvin Hernton, and David Henderson. Meeting on Friday evenings at Dent’s apartment on New York’s East Side, members shared and discussed their poetry. Taking its name from a poem by Lloyd Addison, Umbra (‘shadow’ in Latin) reflected the marginalisation of Black writers and their desire to establish an independent literary community. Umbra was more than a literary journal: it was ‘the workshops, a magazine, a society’ (Marcoux, p. 241). The anthology’s political message is also evident in Billy Morrow Jackson’s cover illustration, which uses religious symbols and the Confederate flag to address themes of racism and oppression.

Umbra Anthology 1967–1968 opens with a selection of poems by jazz composer and pianist Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount). Other contributors include LeRoi Jones, Langston Hughes, and Allen Ginsberg, alongside female writers including Alice Walker, Margareta Olisa and Julia Fields. The magazine was produced cooperatively by members of the Society of Umbra, with its layout, typography and preparation for printing undertaken by the group itself.

See Grundy, Umbra Magazine (1963–1974): An Introduction and a Bibliography (2021), pp. 5–15, 31–33; Marcoux, ‘Umbra and the Countercultures’, in Leonard ed., The Cambridge History of African American Poetry (2026), pp. 241–259; Hughes, ‘In the Archives: Joe Johnson and the Umbra Poets’, New York Public Library (2023).

SKU: 2125369