1. Famous Playwrights

2. Langston Hughes Born James Mercer Langston Hughes on February 1, 1902 Parents? – James Hughes and Carrie Langston Where? – Joplin, Missouri – Primarily raised by his grandmother, Mary, who died while he was in his teens. – Lived with his mother in Cleveland, Ohio Died on May 22, 1967 of cancer

4. Langston Huges Inspirations? – Walt Whitman (author of Song of Myself) – Carl Sandburg (author of Chicago Poems)

5. Langston Hughes Education? – College: Columbia University in New York – College: Lincoln University in Pennsylvania First publication? – A book of poems called The Weary Blues (1926) – Also wrote a column for the newspaper: Chicago Defender.

6. Langston Hughes Leading voice of New York’s Harlem Renaissance “The Weary Blues” poem won first prize in Opportunity magazine before it was published with a book of poems under the same title. First novel: Not Without Laughter

7. Street Scene 1940s Broadway show Lyrics by Langston Hughes Music by Kurt Weill The success of the show helped Hughes buy his own house

8. Street Scene Setting: 1946, East Manhattan (New York City) Two plotlines – Romance between a woman, Rose, and her neighbor, Sam. – Anna, Rose’s mother, has an affair, and is found out by Rose’s father, Frank

9. Troubled Island 1949 Langston wrote the Libretto (small opera) which later inspired William Grant Still to write a full play. Setting: Haiti in 1791 About an emperor and his wife being overthrown by their people

10. More Interesting Facts about Langston Hughes After dropping out of Columbia, Hughes worked a few odd jobs including… working as a busboy in a Washington, D.C. hotel, where he met the biggest promoter of his writing: Vachel Lindsay. Working on a cargo ship that made passage between Africa and Spain.