Bontemps, Arna (Vol. 18) - Introduction

Bontemps, Arna 1902–1973

Bontemps was an American novelist, poet, children's writer, biographer, editor, and playwright. He wrote optimistically, striving to preserve the cultural heritage of the black in American history and to relate the changes he had seen in his own lifetime. Bontemps collaborated with Langston Hughes, Jack Conroy, W. C. Handy, and Countee Cullen. Black Thunder is generally regarded as his best novel. (See also CLC, Vol. 1, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 1-4, rev. ed.; obituary, Vols. 41-44, rev. ed.)