Langston Hughes: The First Successful African-American Poet

Langston Hughes was the first successful African-American poet. Hughes was born on February, 1, 1902 in Missouri and then he traveled throughout America and Europe. He lived for a time in the Harlem section of New York. He wrote many poems that had something to do with race. Hughes then died in New York in 1967. Langston Hughes accomplished many things over the years of his career. Hughes was an author of lots of books, plays, and children’s poetry. He was a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance. His first novel which was called Not Without Laughter won a Harmon gold medal for literature. Hughes first book of poetry was called The Weary Blues, it was published in 1926. Many things influenced Langston Hughes’s writing. The history