7 years old, listenin to grown folks conversation...heard my grandfather say these words...

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare. (mother to son)
so i asked him where he got them...he introduced me to poetry by way of Langston Hughes.

Others on my list

Countee Cullen
Anne Spencer "the wife-woman"
Gwendolyn Brooks
there are others...especially the likes of Edgar Allen Poe.
Never been too crazy about anything Maya Angelou ever wrote, altho, I find her life story to be amazing.

As far as writers in general, or novelists, story tellers...i enjoy toni morrison because she has the most unconventional and creative ways of describing situations, feelings and emotions that we feel every day. at the same time, broadening that creativity with interesting stories. to me, her novels read like an epic poem.

ernest hemingway among my favs.

there's more...even some writers i dont exactly care for their style, but i can respect their art.