Umbra Poets Workshop

The Umbra Poets Workshop was a group of young African-American writers who met on New York City's Lower East Side from 1962 to 1965 to conduct readings and discuss writing and politics. Early members of the group included Thomas C. Dent, Calvin Hernton, Ishmael Reed, David Henderson, Joe Johnson, and Askia M. Toure (then Rolland Snellings.) They founded "Umbra," a literary magazine, in 1963. The group, known for the intensity of its readings of "street poetry," and influenced by black nationalist ideas and the African oral tradition, was among the forerunners of the Black Arts movement.

From the description of Umbra Poets Workshop collection, 1978-2006 (bulk 1978-1986) (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 173303903