Jazz Age Poet: A Story about Langston Hughes

This 64-page biography with occasional warm black and white illustrations charts African-American Langston Hughes’ life (1902-1967) from a childhood of poverty and hardship and racial discrimination to his emergence as one of America’s leading poets. He was one of the first poets to explore in his poetry the jazz rhythms to be found in the music, speech patterns and lifestyle of black Americans at the time. He achieved worldwide fame through his international tours reading his poetry and giving talks about problems between the races in America. Alas there are no examples of his poetry in this biography, but it may well encourage young readers (or their teachers) to search out collections of his work.