Author: David C. Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 different recordings of <em>Sympathy</em>, by Paul Laurence Dunbar in honor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day">Martin Luther King Day</a>. Listeners will recognize a line from this poem as being the title of Maya Angelou's 1969 novel <em>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings</em>. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of January 14th, 2007.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 19 different recordings of <em>October</em> by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of October 7th, 2007.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 27 recordings of Life’s Tragedy by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the weekly poetry project for June 21st, 2009.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the fortnightly poetry project for June 28th, 2009.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Retort by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the weekly poetry project for August 23rd, 2009.

6Merry Autumn

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Merry Autumn by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 10th, 2010.

7Sport of the Gods

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Sport of the Gods is a novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar, first published in 1902, centered around urban black life. Forced to leave the South, a family falls apart amid the harsh realities of Northern inner city life in this 1902 examination of the forces that extinguish the dreams of African Americans. (Summary from Wikipedia)

8Pool

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 20 recordings of The Pool by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 20, 2012.<br><br>Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an African American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much of his popular work in his lifetime used a Negro dialect, which helped him become one of the first nationally-accepted African American writers. Much of his writing, however, does not use dialect; these more traditional poems have become of greater interest to scholars. (Summary by Wikipedia)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 22 recordings of The Mystery by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 12, 2012,<br><br>Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much of his popular work in his lifetime used a Negro dialect, which helped him become one of the first nationally-accepted African-American writers. Much of his writing, however, does not use dialect; these more traditional poems have become of greater interest to scholars. (Summary by Wikipedia)

10He Had His Dream

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of He Had His Dream by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Weekly Poetry project for July 14, 2013.<br><br>Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves.... Although he lived to be only 33 years old, Dunbar was prolific, writing short stories, novels, librettos, plays, songs and essays as well as the poetry for which he became well known. He was popular with black and white readers of his day, and his works are celebrated today by scholars and school children alike. (Summary by Florence Short)

11Book of American Negro Poetry

By Otto Leland Bohanan, William Stanley Braithwaite, Benjamin Griffith Brawley, James Edwin Campbell, Waverly Turner Carmichael, James David Corrothers, Joseph S. Cotter, Jr., Ray G. Dandridge, Daniel Webster Davis, R. Nathaniel Dett, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Jessie R. Fauset, Leslie Pinckney Hill, John Wesley Holloway, Roscoe C. Jamison, Charles Bertram Johnson, Georgia Douglas Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, Fenton Johnson, Edward Smyth Jones, Joshua Henry Jones, Jr., George Reginald Margetson, George Marion McClellan, Claude McKay, William H. A. Moore, Alex Rogers, Theodore Henry Shackelford, Anne Spencer and Lucian B. Watkins

The Book of American Negro Poetry is one of the earliest and most essential anthologies of African-American verse ever brought to print. Edited by writer and diplomat James Weldon Johnson, this collection was published with the hope of bringing to the public a greater awareness of the art and literature created by Black writers. This is the first edition of this long-republished anthology and collects seminal works by Paul Dunbar, W.E.B. Du Bois, Claude McKay, Leslie Hill, James Corrothers, and many more. - Summary by ChuckW

12Poet and The Baby

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

What struck me in reading Mr. Dunbar's poetry was what had already struck his friends in Ohio and Indiana, in Kentucky and Illinois. They had felt, as I felt, that however gifted his race had proven itself in music, in oratory, in several of the other arts, here was the first instance of an American negro who had evinced innate distinction in literature. (W.D. Howells in the Introduction to The Compete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar)

13Strength of Gideon and Other Stories

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

One of four books of short stories written in his brief career. These stories are written using African-American dialect which provides deeper insight to the culture of that time. - Summary by Kirk202

14Voice Of The Banjo

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of The Voice Of The Banjo by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for November 3, 2019. <br> ------<br> What struck me in reading Mr. Dunbar's poetry was what had already struck his friends in Ohio and Indiana, in Kentucky and Illinois. They had felt, as I felt, that however gifted his race had proven itself in music, in oratory, in several of the other arts, here was the first instance of an American negro who had evinced innate distinction in literature. In my criticism of his book ... So far as I could remember, Paul Dunbar was the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the negro life aesthetically and express it lyrically. (W. D. HOWELLS from the Introduction to Lyrics of Lowly Life)

This is a story about a town in Ohio during the civil war. The town is divided by ideology, but can they be united by love and respect? - Summary by Stav Nisser.<br><br><b>Note to listeners</b>: Because of the subject of this book, some of the ideas described and the words used can be offensive.

"Oak and Ivy" is Paul Laurence Dunbar's first collection of poetry. He was by far the most successful Black American to write poetry in the so-called Negro dialect, although he also wrote a lot of verse in standard diction. His poetry and prose often speaks of the frustrated aspirations of and bleak prospects for African Americans in a white supremacist era. - Summary by TriciaG

Poetry about African American Southern life - Summary by Denise Ray

With this collection of short stories, Dunbar sought to draw on the success of his dialect poems by recreating and portraying the southern plantation during slavery. The stories focus on the stereotypical portrait of slaves as obedient workers happy to spend their lives in service of their benevolent owner. His attempt to find success was only partially realized, as his stories drew not only criticism but, in some cases, anger at their very stereotypical nature. The book itself, however, proved to be more lucrative than previous fiction works had been for the author. (Summary by Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University)

19Uncalled

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Orphaned Freddie Brent ends up adopted by an old local Christian lady who knows nothing about raising a child. And matters are worsened by her insistence that he become a preacher. - Summary by Jim Locke

20James Whitcomb Riley

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 12 recordings of James Whitcomb Riley by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 15, 2022. <br> ------<br> This LibriVox Weekly Poem is taken from THE COMPLETE POEMS OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.

21Vagrants

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 19 recordings of Vagrants by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 21, 2022. <br> ------<br> Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the "Negro dialect" associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. He also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels and is considered the first important African American sonnet writer. Since the late 20th century, scholars have become more interested in these other works. (Wikipedia)

22Heart of Happy Hollow

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Happy Hollow; are you wondering where it is? Wherever Negroes colonise in the cities or villages, north or south, wherever the hod carrier, the porter, and the waiter are the society men of the town; wherever the picnic and the excursion are the chief summer diversion, and the revival the winter time of repentance, wherever the cheese cloth veil obtains at a wedding, and the little white hearse goes by with black mourners in the one carriage behind, there—there—is Happy Hollow. Wherever laughter and tears rub elbows day by day, and the spirit of labour and laziness shake hands, there—there—is Happy Hollow, and of some of it may the following pages show the heart. (Summary by the author)

23Heart of Happy Hollow (Version 2)

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Happy Hollow; are you wondering where it is? Wherever Negroes colonise in the cities or villages, north or south, wherever the hod carrier, the porter, and the waiter are the society men of the town; wherever the picnic and the excursion are the chief summer diversion, and the revival the winter time of repentance, wherever the cheese cloth veil obtains at a wedding, and the little white hearse goes by with black mourners in the one carriage behind, there—there—is Happy Hollow. Wherever laughter and tears rub elbows day by day, and the spirit of labour and laziness shake hands, there—there—is Happy Hollow, and of some of it may the following pages show the heart. - Summary by The Author

The Love of Landry is one of Dunbar's four novels, and one of three that are about white people. In this case, the story is about the recuperation of the sick Mildred Osborne, an Eastern aristocrat, at a ranch in Colorado. The central character is faced with very different social norms operating in a world with so few women. Though the novel lacks black characters, allusions to them and plot conflicts that center on the position of a man in American society prejudice is hinted at. Mildred Osborne's journey of self-discovery ends in her finding out who Landry really is and that he is worthy of her love. Summary by Jim Locke

25Debt

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of The Debt by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for July 30, 2023. <br> ------<br> Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the "Negro dialect" associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. Dunbar also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels and is considered the first important African American sonnet writer - Summary by Wikipedia

26Christmas in the Heart

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Christmas in the Heart by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 10, 2023. <br> ------<br> Dunbar became the first African-American poet to earn national distinction and acceptance. The New York Times called him "a true singer of the people – white or black." Frederick Douglass once referred to Dunbar as, "one of the sweetest songsters his race has produced and a man of whom [he hoped] great things." - Summary by Wikipedia

27At Loafing-Holt

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 23 recordings of At Loafing-Holt by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for August 18, 2024. <br> ------<br> Dunbar wrote his first poem at the age of six and gave his first public recital at the age of nine. His mother assisted him in his schooling, having learned to read expressly for that purpose. Dunbar was the only African-American student during his years at Central High School in Dayton. Orville Wright was a classmate and friend. Well-accepted, he was elected as president of the school's literary society, and became the editor of the school newspaper and a debate club member. - Summary by Wikipedia

28Then And Now

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of Then And Now by Paul Laurence Dunbar.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for January 12, 2025. <br> ------<br> Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the "Negro dialect" associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. Dunbar also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels and is considered the first important African American sonnet writer. - Summary by Wikipedia