James Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes's parents had divorced when he was young. His father moved to Mexico and his mother moved to Lincoln, Illinois with her recent husband, leaving Hughes to be raised by his grandmother until he was twelve, when he went to live with his mother in Illinois, eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon graduation from high school (where he began to write poetry), he went to live with his father for a year in Mexico, later traveling to New York to attend Columbia University.
       Before pursing his career as a poet and writer, he held odd jobs as an assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy, and traveled Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In 1924, Hughes moved to Harlem, New York where he wrote his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues.
    d Langston Hughes is not only known for his short stories, plays, and poetry, but also for his colorful portrayals of black life in America around the 60's. He was primarily influenced other profound writers such as Paul Lawrence Dunbar , Carl Sandburg , and Walt Whitman . Hughes's work largely contributed to the artistic expression during the Harlem Renaissance in the 20's. He refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of blacks in America. His goal was to tell stories of his people (blacks) without personalizing them so he could draw his own conclusions.
        Hughes died of heart failure in 1967 at his resident in Harlem, New York.

 Here are some of Langston Hughes's more well known poetry works:
Dream Variations
Life is Fine
Madam and the Phone Bill
Madam and Her Madam
Po' Boy Blues
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Night Funeral in Harlem
Dream Deferred
Dinner Guest: Me
Cross
Cultural Exchange
Children's Rhymes
Theme for English B

  For more information on Langston Hughes, visit the Academy of American Poets at
                     http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84

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