Book Launch - No More Worlds to Conquer by Brian G. Gilmore

Washington, DC, has long been home to a dynamic and vibrant African American literary community, but it has not received the same attention as New York or Chicago.  In No More Worlds to Conquer, local poet Brian Gilmore uncovers the buried legacy of Black poets in Washington. This book traces the literary life and politics of Black poets in the nation’s capital since Paul Lawrence Dunbar at the turn of the 20th century, making the case for the city as a center of American literature. Gilmore draws on meticulous research, personal interviews, and his own deep knowledge of the local literary community to connect generations of writers and document a poetic community that transcends Washington, including in his analysis such important figures as May Miller, William Waring Cuney, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and many others. He reveals the intricate intersections, networks, and influences that have shaped the city’s poets and how they have influenced American poetry for more than a century.