SALE ON YALE! History • Biography & more... TELL ME MORE
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1901. Often called 'The People's Poet,' he authored and edited over thirty works poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books. He was a poetic innovator and a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, and his writing promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and helped shape American literature and politics. He died on May 22, 1967, in New York City. Danez Smith (Curator) is the author of four poetry collections including Bluff, Homie and Don't Call Us Dead. Danez has won the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and has been a finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award. Danez lives in Minneapolis with their people.
This thoughtfully assembled and arranged volume honours a corner of a legendary poet's life . . . In Blues in Stereo, we get to witness a young poet figuring out the work and the self in tandem, clearly brimming with potential . . . This book is not only a gift for what it gives us of Hughes, but additionally, it is a gift to any poet working at any stage of their life and career, needing a reminder that there is more to reach for. -- Hanif Abdurraqib, author of THERE'S ALWAYS THIS YEAR and LITTLE DEVIL IN AMERICA Hughes transformed the way America understood Black literature and transformed the way the world understood Black life. He wrote directly into the fullness and complexity of the Black experience. The suffering. The joy. The violence. The resilience. His poetry revels in the music of our language. His love for his people leaps from the page. What a gift that Danez Smith, one of our greatest living poets, serves as our guide through this stunning collection of Hughes' early work. What a gift that we get to see the past and present meeting in this beautiful way. -- Clint Smith, author of ABOVE GROUND and HOW THE WORD IS PASSED This collection of Hughes's early work allows us to see the great poet he would become for the young genius he was . . . I am grateful for this volume and for Hughes's willingness to follow his dream and his commitment to write about dreams his entire life. -- Jericho Brown, author of THE TRADITION
