The African American Poetry Tracker is a digital resource that highlights the circulation of poetry in anthologies produced over the course of one hundred years. The Poetry Tracker illuminates the multifaceted publishing routes of poems by Langston Hughes, Amiri Baraka, and Nikki Giovanni. The site showcases quantitative findings and data visualizations about literary histories and provides new opportunities for considering the transmission of black poetry in multiple collections.
By employing digital tools to share and build knowledge about poetry, anthologies, and publishing histories, the Poetry Tracker demonstrates the value of blending technological practices and African American literary studies. This resource encourages students and literature scholars to consider the extensive editorial work involved in reprinting poems by black writers. At the same time, the project promotes the use technology organizing and communicating information about black literature.
This project is produced by Howard Rambsy II and Margaret Smith.