Most Popular Books by Langston Hughes

A brief profile of African American poet Langston Hughes accompanies some of his better known poems for children.

The definitive sampling of a writer whose poems were “at the forefront of the Harlem Renaissance and of modernism itself, and today are fundamentals of American culture” (OPRAH Magazine). Here, for the first time, are all the poems that Langston Hughes published during his lifetime, arranged in the general order in which he wrote them. Lyrical and pungent, passionate and polemical, the result is a treasure of a book, the essential collection of a poet whose words have entered our common language. The collection spans five decades, and is comprised of 868 poems (nearly 300 of which never before appeared in book form) with annotations by Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel. Alongside such famous works as "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and Montage of a Dream Deferred, The Collected Poems includes Hughes''s lesser-known verse for children; topical poems distributed through the Associated Negro Press; and poems such as "Goodbye Christ" that were once suppressed.

Collects the novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, and other published work by one of the twentieth century''s most prolific and influential African American authors, including famous as well as lesser-known works and out-of-print selections.

Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in Black writing in America—the poems in this collection were chosen by Hughes himself shortly before his death and represent stunning work from his entire career. The poems Hughes wrote celebrated the experience of invisible men and women: of slaves who "rushed the boots of Washington"; of musicians on Lenox Avenue; of the poor and the lovesick; of losers in "the raffle of night." They conveyed that experience in a voice that blended the spoken with the sung, that turned poetic lines into the phrases of jazz and blues, and that ripped through the curtain separating high from popular culture. They spanned the range from the lyric to the polemic, ringing out "wonder and pain and terror—and the marrow of the bone of life." The collection includes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "The Weary Blues," "Still Here," "Song for a Dark Girl," "Montage of a Dream Deferred," and "Refugee in America." It gives us a poet of extraordinary range, directness, and stylistic virtuosity.

The first prose novel published by Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter is a coming-of-age novel that depicts the adolescent years of Sandy, an African-American boy growing up in a small town in Kansas. The novel is structured as a series of vignettes that depict Sandy’s interactions with his family and the surrounding society, including experiences of racial discrimination. It explores how social structures of race, class, and religion shape the lives of African-American families. Hughes aimed to depict “a typical Negro family in the Middle West,” drawing on his own experiences of growing up in Kansas alongside families similar to Sandy’s family. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

A compilation of writings by early twentieth-century African-American author Langston Hughes, including excerpts from novels and autobiographies, short stories, plays, poems, songs, and essays.

This is the first comprehensive selection from the correspondence of the iconic and beloved Langston Hughes. It offers a life in letters that showcases his many struggles as well as his memorable achievements. Arranged by decade and linked by expert commentary, the volume guides us through Hughes’s journey in all its aspects: personal, political, practical, and—above all—literary. His letters range from those written to family members, notably his father (who opposed Langston’s literary ambitions), and to friends, fellow artists, critics, and readers who sought him out by mail. These figures include personalities such as Carl Van Vechten, Blanche Knopf, Zora Neale Hurston, Arna Bontemps, Vachel Lindsay, Ezra Pound, Richard Wright, Kurt Weill, Carl Sandburg, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Alice Walker, Amiri Baraka, and Muhammad Ali. The letters tell the story of a determined poet precociously finding his mature voice; struggling to realize his literary goals in an environment generally hostile to blacks; reaching out bravely to the young and challenging them to aspire beyond the bonds of segregation; using his artistic prestige to serve the disenfranchised and the cause of social justice; irrepressibly laughing at the world despite its quirks and humiliations. Venturing bravely on what he called the “big sea” of life, Hughes made his way forward always aware that his only hope of self-fulfillment and a sense of personal integrity lay in diligently pursuing his literary vocation. Hughes’s voice in these pages, enhanced by photographs and quotations from his poetry, allows us to know him intimately and gives us an unusually rich picture of this generous, visionary, gratifyingly good man who was also a genius of modern American letters.

The sixteen volumes are published with the goal that Hughes pursued throughout his lifetime: making his books available to the people. Each volume will include a biographical and literary chronology by Arnold Rampersad, as well as an introduction by a Hughes scholar lume introductions will provide contextual and historical information on the particular work.

The first published poetry collection from the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance poet behind such works as "Montage of a Dream Deferred" and "Life is Fine." Originally published in 1926, The Weary Blues is Langston Hughes''s first collection of poetry. Broken into seven thematic sections, the sixty-eight poems capture the heart of a young budding artist and the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. The title poem, "The Weary Blues," tells the story of a musician performing in a bar and uses a very lyrical style that flows throughout the collection. Other poems include, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Danse Africaine," "Dream Variation," "Mother to Son," "Suicide''s Note," and "Winter Moon." The work touches on subjects like art, identity, race, class, urban life, music, and the Black experience in 1920s America.

Hughes''s last collection of poems commemorates the experience of Black Americans in a voice that no reader could fail to hear—the last testament of a great American writer who grappled fearlessly and artfully with the most compelling issues of his time. “Langston Hughes is a titanic figure in 20th-century American literature ... a powerful interpreter of the American experience.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer From the publication of his first book in 1926, Langston Hughes was America''s acknowledged poet of color. Here, Hughes''s voice—sometimes ironic, sometimes bitter, always powerful—is more pointed than ever before, as he explicitly addresses the racial politics of the sixties in such pieces as "Prime," "Motto," "Dream Deferred," "Frederick Douglass: 1817-1895," "Still Here," "Birmingham Sunday." " History," "Slave," "Warning," and "Daybreak in Alabama."

From the Harlem Renaissance author, "city life, racism and complex geopolitical issues through the eyes of a so-called ''simple'' southern Black man" (Malik Al Nasir, The Guardian ). Langston Hughes''s stories about Jesse B. Semple—first composed for a weekly column in the Chicago Defender and then collected in Simple Speaks His Mind, Simple Takes a Wife, and Simple Stakes a Claim—have been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. In The Best of Simple, the author picked his favorites from these earlier volumes, stories that not only have proved popular but are now part of a great and growing literary tradition. Simple might be considered an Everyman for black Americans. Hughes himself wrote: "these tales are about a great many people—although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples, fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas, and several Cousin Minnies—or reasonable facsimiles thereof." As Arnold Rampersad has written, Simple is "one of the most memorable and winning characters in the annals of American literature, justly regarded as one of Hughes''s most inspired creations." "Hughes is able to be both accessible and insightful—as well as hugely entertaining . . . Langston Hughes'' work has the power to both encourage and inspire; it invites you to learn more about Black history." —Malik Al Nasir, The Guardian

Reprint. Previously published: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950.

"When a mule bone becomes a bone of contention between two best friends, guitar player Jim and dancer Dave, their small Southern town becomes embroiled in the conflict. Egged on by flirtatious newcomer Daisy, matters escalate until the harmony of Eatonville is overturned and the longtime pals end up in court. Will justice or friendship prevail in this humorous Harlem Renaissance classic? ""The Mule-Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts"" by Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston is a play written by two prominent African American authors during the 1930s. ""The Mule-Bone"" explores themes of love, rivalry, and community life in a Southern town. It''s known for its rich dialogue and humor, offering a snapshot of African American culture during the early part of the 20th century."

Langston Hughes, one of America''s greatest writers, was an innovator of jazz poetry and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance whose poems and plays resonate widely today. Accessible, personal, and inspirational, HughesÕs poems portray the African American community in struggle in the context of a turbulent modern United States and a rising black freedom movement. This indispensable volume of letters between Hughes and four leftist confidants sheds vivid light on his life and politics. Letters from Langston begins in 1930 and ends shortly before his death in 1967, providing a window into a unique, self-created world where Hughes lived at ease. This distinctive volume collects the stories of Hughes and his friends in an era of uncertainty and reveals their visions of an idealized worldÑone without hunger, war, racism, and class oppression.

"Langston Hughes, born in 1902, came of age early in the 1920s. In The Big Sea he recounts those memorable years in the two great playgrounds of the decade--Harlem and Paris. In Paris he was a cook and waiter in nightclubs. He knew the musicians and dancers, the drunks and dope fiends. In Harlem he was a rising young poet--at the center of the Harlem Renaissance"--Publisher''s description.