Langston Hughes - Biography.

Langston Hughes - Biography. American poet, short-story writer, novelist, and dramatist Birth February 1, 1902 Death May 22, 1967 Place of Joplin, Missouri Birth Known for Infusing the rhythms of jazz and blues into his poetry Milestones 1921 Published his first poem, 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers,' in Crisis magazine 1926 Published his first volume of poetry, The Weary Blues, and received a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania 1930 Published his first novel, Not Without Laughter, after his college graduation in 1929 Early 1930s Traveled to Cuba, Haiti, the Soviet Union, and Japan, wrote short stories, and in 1934 published a collection of these in The Ways of White Folks 1935 The drama Mulatto opened on Broadway 1937 Traveled to Spain as a correspondent during the Spanish Civil War 1938 Started the Harlem Suitcase Theater 1940s Published his autobiography, The Big Sea, in 1940; in the following years, wrote a newspaper column in which he invented the popular character Jesse B. Semple (who was also called Simple) 1951 Published a collection of poems, Montage of a Dream Deferred, which included his well-known poem 'Harlem' 1958 Published his second novel, Tambourines to Glory 1967 His last book of poetry, The Panther and the Lash, was published posthumously. Did You In 1925, while busing tables in Washington, D.C., Hughes showed his work to American poet Vachel Lindsay. The following day, the media Know dubbed him the 'busboy poet.' Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman, and Paul Laurence Dunbar influenced Hughes's style of poetry. Hughes was a prominent writer during the Harlem Renaissance, an African American cultural movement of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Hughes wrote the lyrics for the 1947 opera Street Scene. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.