1976 - Robert Hayden appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now known as U.S. Poet Laureate.
1984 - Eroding Witness (1985) by Nathaniel McKay was selected by Michael S. Harper as a National Poetry Series Winner.
1985 - Gwendolyn Brooks appointed the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
1985 - Robert Hayden: Collected Poems, edited by Frederick Glaysher, is published.
1987 - Rita Dove awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Thomas and Beulah.
1987 - The Dark Room Collective is founded by Thomas Sayers Ellis and Sharan Strange.
1988 - Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir, 1969-1980 (1987) and Next: New Poems (1987), both by Lucille Clifton, are finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
1988 - Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaais published.
1990 - Elizabeth Alexander's The Venus Hottentot is published.
1990 - Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky (1991) by Thylias Moss is selected by Charles Simic as a National Poetry Series Winner.
1992 - Derek Walcott receives Nobel Prize for Literature.
1992 - In the Tradition: An Anthology of Young Black Writers, edited by Kevin Powell and Ras Baraka, is published.
• 15 Moments, 1918 - 1950
• 10 Moments, 1965 - 1976