Langston Hughes

First published in 1930, "Not Without Laughter" is the debut novel by Langston Hughes and a deeply personal, semi-autobiographical tale of an African-American family in rural Kansas. Langston Hughes, born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, spent much of his youth in Lawrence, Kansas and it is here that he set his first novel. "Not Without Laughter" tells the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a young man and focuses on his "awakening...

Overview: With the publication of his first book of poems, The Weary Blues, in 1926, Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in black writing in America. 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...

Introduction by Arnold Rampersad. 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." Arnold Rampersad writes in his incisive new introduction...

A leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes was the first to use his poetry to reflect the real daily lives of average Black people. This collection celebrates Black pride and contains messages of hope and optimism from the 1920s. Langston Hughes is often referred to as the Poet Laureate of African-American experience. The writer featured themes of cultural heritage, racial discrimination, and optimism in his poetry. He used his...

Poet, author and playwright Langston Hughes was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance in the late 1950s. His writings capture the spirit of black culture as it struggled for recognition and acceptance. Tambourines to Glory is a morality fable illustrating the perpetual fight between good and evil. Angelic Essie Belle Johnson and devilish Laura Reed both agree that they need to do something to spice up their lives-and earn more money. So, they start...

A collection of sixty-six poems, selected by the author for young readers, including lyrical poems, songs, and blues, many exploring the black experience.

In the delightfully small Pocket Poets format, a selection of the poems of Langston Hughes -- one of America's greatest popular poets since Walt Whitman. From the publication of his first book in 1926, Hughes was hailed as the poet laureate of black America, the first to commemorate the experience of African-Americans in a voice that no reader, black or white, could fail to hear. Lyrical and pungent, passionate and polemical, this volume is a treasure...

The author's poem about a mother's love for her child is paired with color illustrations.

"The granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King delivers a stirring tribute to her grandparents that speaks to children everywhere about her hopes for a new future"--