In Flaming Letters: Lucia Pitts, Poet of the Six Triple Eight

A treasury of poetry and prose from an unsung trailblazer of Black literature

Lucia M. Pitts (1904–1973) was an African American writer and Army veteran whose story has never been told. Her poetry, including love lyrics of striking sensuality and honesty, was admired by Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Dorothy West. Her work first appeared during the Harlem Renaissance, influenced by Harriet Monroe’s Poetry magazine and blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. A native of Chicago’s Bro...