James Mercer Langston Hughes February 1, [1] — May 22, was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. He moved to New York City as a young man, where he made his career. One of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry , Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue", which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue.

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While it was long believed that Hughes was born in , new research released in indicated that he might have been born the previous year. His parents separated soon after his birth, and he was raised by his mother and grandmother. Back in New York City from seafaring and sojourning in Europe, he met in the writers Arna Bontemps and Carl Van Vechten , with whom he would have lifelong influential friendships. Hughes won an Opportunity magazine poetry prize in Knopf , who accepted the collection that Knopf would publish as The Weary Blues in While working as a busboy in a hotel in Washington, D. Hughes received a scholarship to, and began attending, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in early
Biography: Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was the first black writer in America to earn his living from writing. He attended Columbia University from but left, disillusioned by the coolness of his white peers. His homosexuality remained hidden throughout his life, and referred to in his writing only through coded references, in the manner of one of his literary heroes, Walt Whitman. However, he did feel able to speak out against the racial oppression he witnessed all around him and had experienced first hand, and his first poems were published in the magazine Crisis which was run by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.
Langston Hughes published his first poem in He attended Columbia University , but left after one year to travel. A leading light of the Harlem Renaissance , Hughes published his first book in He went on to write countless works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular column for the Chicago Defender.