African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Jean Toomer, Biographical Note in "Caroling Dusk" (1927)

Jean Toomer was born in Washington, D. C., in 1894. He has since lived there and in New York, receiving his education mainly in these cities. Having traveled over a good part of America, experiencing varied aspects of its life and studying the elements of contemporary problems, in 1918 in the midst of a general interest in art, he gradually centered on that of literature. There followed a four year period devoted entirely to writing, the results of which were first given printed form by The Double Dealer of New Orleans. And soon thereafter, sketches, poems, short stories, and critical reviews began appearing in Broom, The Crisis, The Dial, The Liberator, The Little Review, Opportunity, etc. These brought him in contact
with a literary and artistic group in New York composed of such men as Waldo Frank, Alfred Steiglitz, Paul Rosenfeld, Gorham B. Munson, and others. With these he has been associated in the effort to articulate the diverse significances of America. In 1923 his first book, Cane, was published by Boni and Liveright, New York.

Published in Caroling Dusk, 1927