Those Winter Sundays (For Further Study)

For Further Study

• Barksdale, Richard, and Kenneth Kinnamon, Black Writers of America: A Comprehensive Anthology, New York: The MacMillian Co., 1972.

  Published during Hayden’s lifetime, this work shows his strained politeness. The authors recognize Hayden as a major poetic talent but seem confused about how to fit him in as a “black writer,” which was the effect Hayden strove for.

• Cooke, Michael G., Afro-American Literature in the Twentieth Century, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.

  An interesting comparison is made here between Hayden and Alice Walker, whose works show a similar world view.

• Williams, Pontheolla T., Robert Hayden: A Critical Analysis of His Poetry, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.

  Smith’s thorough biography in the beginning of this book gives more helpful background than most critical analyses do. This is one of the most complete analyses of Hayden’s life and works.