Poetry Was the Gateway Drug for These Pioneering Writers

Recognizing the birthdays of Sterling A. Brown and May Sarton

We usually hear the term “gateway drug” in reference to marijuana. But for the subjects of this issue of Bidwell Hollow, poetry was their literary “gateway drug.”

Sterling A. Brown and May Sarton both started out writing poetry. Then they diverged into other forms. Sarton wrote novels. And Brown took on the task of historian for black literature. 

Poetry …