|
Hughes, Langston (James Langston Hughes), 1902-67,
American poet and central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, b. Joplin, Mo.,
grad. Lincoln Univ., 1929. He worked at a variety of jobs and lived in
several countries, including Mexico and France, before Vachel Lindsay
discovered his poetry in 1925. The publication of The Weary Blues
(1926), his first volume of poetry, enabled Hughes to attend Lincoln Univ.
in Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1929. His writing, which often
uses dialect and jazz rhythms, is largely concerned with depicting African
American life, particularly the experience of the urban African American.
Among his later collections of poetry are Shakespeare in Harlem
(1942), One-Way Ticket (1949), and Selected Poems (1959).
Hughes's numerous other works include several plays, notably Mulatto
(1935); books for children, such as The First Book of Negroes (1952);
and novels, including Not Without Laughter (1930). His newspaper
sketches about Jesse B. Simple were collected in The Best of Simple
(1961). source:
http://www.historychannel.com/perl/print_book.pl?ID=92586 |