Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Creator / LangstonHughes

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/langston_hughes_9346313_1_402.jpg]]
2
3James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967 in Joplin, Missouri) was an American writer, poet, author and playwright. Hughes was known as one of the lead figures of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance Harlem Renaissance]], a revival of African-American culture and arts that primarily took place in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in the TheRoaringTwenties.
4
5Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, his father would then leave him, divorce his mother and leave for Mexico. Hughes's mother traveled for work, leaving Hughes to be raised primarily by his grandmother, who raised him to be proud of his heritage and to help other members of his race. He would gain a love of reading and writing as a child, and wrote many poems and short stories. During the 1920s, and while attending university, working jobs and living abroad, Hughes became known for his published {{poetry}}, and it was the poem "The Weary Blues" that lead to further recognition. He would title his first book collection of poems after "The Weary Blues".
6
7Hughes's poems would mostly be about working class black Americans, examining race and class. He was also one of the earliest recorded jazz poets, using the rhythms/improvisations of jazz music and blues music to recite. Hughes was also a novelist and playwright; ''Not Without Laughter'' being one of the most well known novels and ''Black Nativity'' being his most well known play.
8
9His personal life was not well known by many, but despite having a romance with a woman in his early adulthood, it is generally accepted by scholars and biographers that Hughes was gay. Hughes's poetry was gay coded and he often wrote about the beauty of dark-skinned men and had several unpublished poems interpreted to be for several male lovers.
10
11Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967. His former residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York was given landmark status and his ashes are interred beneath a floor medallion in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
12----
13!!Bibliography
14
15[[AC:Poem collections]]
16* ''The Weary Blues'', 1926
17* ''Fine Clothes to the Jew'', 1927
18* ''The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations'', 1931
19* ''Dear Lovely Death'', 1931
20* ''The Dream Keeper and Other Poems'', 1932
21* ''Scottsboro Limited: Four Poems and a Play'', 1932
22* ''A New Song'', 1938
23* ''Note on Commercial Theatre'', 1940
24* ''Shakespeare in Harlem'', 1942
25* ''Freedom's Plow'', 1943
26* ''Jim Crow's Last Stand'', 1943
27* ''Fields of Wonder'', 1947
28* ''One-Way Ticket'', 1949
29* ''Montage of a Dream Deferred'', 1951
30* ''Selected Poems of Langston Hughes'', 1958
31* ''Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz, Hill & Wang'', 1961
32* ''The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times'', 1967
33* ''The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes'', 1994
34
35[[AC:Novels/Short Story Collections]]
36* ''Not Without Laughter'', 1930
37* ''The Ways of White Folks'', 1934
38* ''Simple Speaks His Mind'', 1950
39* ''Laughing to Keep from Crying'', 1952
40* ''Simple Takes a Wife'', 1953
41* ''Sweet Flypaper of Life'', photographs by Roy [=DeCarava=], 1955
42* ''Simple Stakes a Claim'', 1957
43* ''Tambourines to Glory'', 1958
44* ''The Best of Simple'', 1961
45* ''Simple's Uncle Sam'', 1965
46* ''Something in Common and Other Stories'', 1963
47* ''Short Stories of Langston Hughes'', 1996
48
49[[AC:Non-fiction books]]
50* ''The Big Sea'', 1940
51* ''Famous American Negroes'', 1954
52* ''Famous Negro Music Makers'', 1955
53* ''I Wonder as I Wander'', 1956
54* ''A Pictorial History of the Negro in America'', 1956
55* ''Famous Negro Heroes of America'', 1958
56* ''Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP'', 1962
57* ''Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the Negro in American Entertainment'', 1967
58
59[[AC:Plays]]
60* ''Mule Bone'', with Zora Neale Hurston, 1931
61* ''Mulatto'', 1935 (renamed The Barrier, an opera, in 1950)
62* ''Troubled Island'', with William Grant Still, 1936
63* ''Little Ham'', 1936
64* ''Emperor of Haiti'', 1936
65* ''Don't You Want to be Free?'', 1938
66* ''Theatre/StreetScene'', contributed lyrics, 1947
67* ''Tambourines to Glory'', 1956
68* ''Simply Heavenly'', 1957
69* ''Black Nativity'', 1961
70* ''Five Plays by Langston Hughes'', 1963
71* ''Jerico-Jim Crow'', 1964
72
73[[AC:Books for children]]
74* ''Popo and Fifina'', with Arna Bontemps, 1932
75* ''The First Book of the Negroes'', 1952
76* ''The First Book of Jazz'', 1954
77* ''Marian Anderson: Famous Concert Singer, with Steven C. Tracy'', 1954
78* ''The First Book of Rhythms'', 1954
79* ''The First Book of the West Indies'', 1956
80* ''First Book of Africa'', 1964
81* ''Black Misery'', illustrated by Arouni, 1969; reprinted 1994

Top