Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist in the early 1900s. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Langston Hughes was famous for his work as an African American poet and author during the Harlem Renaissance.

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902

After the divorce of his parents, Hughes was left to live with his grandma as his mother was looking for employment.

Through the Afro American storytelling his mother would instill a sense of racial pride in Langston.

After the death of his grandma, he went to live with his family friends.

Langston’s early life was unstable but one that influenced the poet he would later become.

While in grammar school he was assigned class poet. He stated that because this was because of the stereotype that Afro Americans have rhythm.

During high school Hughes wrote for the school paper, edited the yearbook, and began to write his first short stories, poetry and dramatic plays.

Later Hughes moved in with his father, however his relationship was poor and Hughes once considered suicide because of it.

Langston attended Colombia University to study engineering, but left in 1922 because of racial prejudice and his interest revolved more around the neighborhood of Harlem than his studies, although he continued writing poetry.

Later in Paris Hughes became part of the Black expatriate community.

He met Vachel Lindsay, who was so impressed with Hughes poems she publicized the discovery of a new black poet and collected in to his first book of poetry.

Next, he enrolled in Lincoln University of Pennsylvania and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Harlem was his primary home for the rest of his life.

On May 22, 1967, Hughes died from complications after abdominal surgery related to prostate cancer. He was 65 years old.

Hughes life and work was highly influential during the Harlem Renaissance, which was...