Essex Hemphill was an American poet and activist.

Essex Hemphill was an American poet and activist. He was a 1993 Pew Fellowships in the Arts. In 1991, Hemphill edited Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, which won a Lambda Literary Award. In 1992, he released Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry, which won the National Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual New Author Award. Hempill died from complications relating to AIDS. He was survived by his partner Dennis Carney, Chair of Black Gay men's Advisory Group in London.