Black History Spotlight: Langston Hughes

Beginning with this piece, I’m going to spotlight people I admire and respect for Black History Month. It’s only fitting that I start with Langston Hughes, who is probably my favorite poet. It’s something that the only book of poetry I’ve ever bought that was not for a class was a complete collection of his poems. However, he wrote plays, short stories, and novels that are just as good (or even better) than his poems. Similar to him, I’d love not only to be a good writer, but to be one that’s versatile. I love writing comedy skits, but I want to be able to write virtually anything I can think of. Given what I’ve read of Hughes’ body of work, he certainly could.

I encourage you to check out a book of Hughes’ poetry from your library and these two books if you can find them: Four Plays by Langston Hughes and Langston Hughes: Short Stories.