hhhhOne of the core writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes came to embody the times in his poems. He was born in 1902 in Joplin, Kansas. When Langston's father was prevented from taking the bar exam in Oklahoma because of discrimination, he left the family and moved to Mexico, where he became successful as a lawyer, rancher, and mine owner. Langston and his mother settled in Cleveland, but because his mother was often traveling, Hughes spent most of his formative years in Lawrence, Kansas living with his grandmother.
hhhhhhWhen he was fifteen, his grandmother died, and Hughes eventually moved back to Cleveland, where he lived with his mother and stepfather. After an unpleasant reunion with his father in Mexico, Hughes decided to attend Columbia University, mostly so that he could see the popular black musical Shuffle Along. Intending to become a writer by absorbing the Harlem atmosphere, Hughes nevertheless was unhappy at Columbia and quit his studies after a year.
hhhhhhIn the years that followed, Hughes took on several odd jobs and became a mess boy on a ships sailing to Africa, Paris, and Genoa. During his brief stays in New York, he published several poems in Crisis, gaining recognition from W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke. For the next few years he corresponded with Countee Cullen, continuing to publish in Crisis. In 1925 he moved to Washington to live with family. With the support of James Weldon Johnson, he published "The Weary Blues," and won the Opportunity magazine poetry prize.
hhhhhReturning to New York, Langston Hughes soon became one of the foremost writers of the Harlem Renaissance, in the group known as the Harlem literati. He is most known for using jazz and blues rhythms in his poetry. His poetry captures the struggles and joys in the lives of lower and middle class blacks in Harlem.