Langston Hughes: The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

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Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes is an African American poet, novelist, and playwright. Some of his most popular works are The Negro Speaks of Rivers, The Weary Blues and Mother to son. All these poems were stepping stones that would lead to his success. Hughes gained his popularity through his works by writing to, for, and about African Americans in the United States. Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents were divorced so he was raised by his grandmother who took care of him until he was 13 years old. Hughes eventually went to live with his mother and husband in Illinois. This is where Hughes began to start writing poetry. After he graduated from high school Hughes moved in with his father in Toluca, Mexico. While on the train trip over to Mexico Hughes wrote The Negro Speaks of Rivers. This would later be his first and most famous poem he would published. He attended Columbia University but soon dropped out because he wanted to travel. Once Hughes returned to the U.S. he moved back in with his …show more content…
Not soon after returning, his poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers was published in Crisis Magazine at the age of eighteen. According to Los Angeles Review of Books, Hughes gained his

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