Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, and newspaper columnist.

Work

Hughes received a B.A. degree from Lincoln University in 1929, and was awarded a Lit.D. in 1943. He taught at a number of colleges. He wrote novels, short stories, plays and poetry. Much of his writing was inspired by the blues and jazz of that era; an example is "Montage of a Dream Deferred", from which a line was taken for the title of the play Raisin in the Sun.

Related Topics:
1943 - Short stories - Plays - Poetry - Blues - Jazz - Raisin in the Sun

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::What happens to a dream deferred?

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::Does it dry up

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::like a raisin in the sun?

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::Or fester like a sore

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::And then run?

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::Does it stink like rotten meat?

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::Or crust and sugar over

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::like a syrupy sweet?

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::Maybe it just sags

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::like a heavy load.

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::Or does it explode?

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Many of his poems are in the form of blues lyrics, such as the opening verse to "Po' Boy Blues":

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:When I was home de

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:Sunshine seemed like gold.

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:When I was home de

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:Sunshine seemed like gold.

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:Since I come up North de

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:Whole damn world's turned cold.

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Hughes' life and work were enormously influential for the Harlem Renaissance of the '20s. His poetry and fiction centered around the lives of blacks in America, lives he portrayed as full of struggle, joy, laughter, and music.

Related Topics:
Harlem Renaissance - Fiction

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Much of Hughes' poetry tries to capture the rhythms of blues music, the music he believed to be the true expression of the black spirit. His published works through 1965 including nine volumes of poetry, eight of short stories and sketches, two novels, seven children's books, a number of plays, essays, and translations, and a two-volume autobiography. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935. Hughes was inducted into the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1961.

Related Topics:
1965 - Children's books - Essay - Autobiography - 1935 - National Institute of Arts and Letters - 1961

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