LANGSTON HUGHES
Langston
Hughes (1902-1967) is best known for his poetry, in which he disregarded
classical forms in favor of musical rhythms and the oral and improvisatory
traditions of black culture. In the 1920s he was a prominent figure during New
York City’s Harlem Renaissance and was referred to as the Poet Laureate of
Harlem. Hughes also wrote the successful Broadway drama Mulatto (1935).
In the 1930s, Hughes was active in social and political causes and used much of
his poetry as a vehicle for social protest. In the 1940s, first for the Chicago
Defender and later for the New York Post, he wrote a newspaper column
in the voice of the character Simple, who expressed the thoughts of young black
Americans. Hughes’ more than 50 books, include the poetry volumes Weary
Blues (1926), The Dream Keeper (1932), Shakespeare in Harlem
(1942), and Fields of Wonder (1947) and the short-story collections The
Ways of White Folks (1934), Simple Speaks His Mind (1950), Simple
Takes a Wife (1953), and Best of Simple (1961). Hughes also wrote the
novels Not Without Laughter (1930) and Tambourines to Glory
(1958), the autobiographical books The Big Sea (1940) and I Wonder as
I Wander (1957), and the children's books Black Misery (1969) and The
Sweet and Sour Animal Book (written 1936, published 1994). The Collected
Poems of Langston Hughes was published in 1994.