Mae Virginia (or Valentine) Cowdery (January 10, 1909 – November 2, 1948)[1] was an African-American poet based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She is considered part of the wide-ranging artistic efforts inspired by the Harlem Renaissance in New York City.

[3] While still in high school, Cowdery published three poems in 1927 in Black Opals, a new literary journal founded that year.

Cowdery's poem in the first issue, as well as one of Bright's, were among pieces to win praise by Countee Cullen, the new literary editor of Opportunity, a larger journal based in Harlem, New York.

Groups such as the Black Opals were being founded in other East Coast cities, such as Washington, DC and Boston.