Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
Langston Hughes is probably the most well-known of the Harlem Renaissance writers. He was born in Missouri in the year 1901. The work of Hughes is definite in that it is African American in content. Even so, his works are very accessible to those of all races. He is known for his short poems such as "I, Too, Sing America", which discusses African Americans being "kept in society's back room", and "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)", which questions the consequences resulting from oppression. Actually, a verse from "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)" was used as the title of a groundbreaking play: Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun". Langston Hughes was not only a poet. He was also a playwright and a novelist. Hughes created the Jesse Semple aka Simple Stories. In the year 1967, he died in New York.