Selected Letters of Langston Hughes

by Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad (Editor), David Roessel (Editor)

This is the first comprehensive selection from the correspondence of the iconic and beloved Langston Hughes. It offers a life in letters that showcases his many struggles as well as his memorable achievements. Arranged by decade and linked by expert commentary, the volume guides us through Hughes’s journey in all its personal, political, practical, and—above all—literary. His letters range from those written to family members, notably his father (who opposed Langston’s literary ambitions), and to friends, fellow artists, critics, and readers who sought him out by mail. These figures include personalities such as Carl Van Vechten, Blanche Knopf, Zora Neale Hurston, Arna Bontemps, Vachel Lindsay, Ezra Pound, Richard Wright, Kurt Weill, Carl Sandburg, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Alice Walker, Amiri Baraka, and Muhammad Ali. The letters tell the story of a determined poet precociously finding his mature voice; struggling to realize his literary goals in an environment generally hostile to blacks; reaching out bravely to the young and challenging them to aspire beyond the bonds of segregation; using his artistic prestige to serve the disenfranchised and the cause of social justice; irrepressibly laughing at the world despite its quirks and humiliations. Venturing bravely on what he called the “big sea” of life, Hughes made his way forward always aware that his only hope of self-fulfillment and a sense of personal integrity lay in diligently pursuing his literary vocation. Hughes’s voice in these pages, enhanced by photographs and quotations from his poetry, allows us to know him intimately and gives us an unusually rich picture of this generous, visionary, gratifyingly good man who was also a genius of modern American letters.

Genres: Nonfiction, African American, Biography, Poetry

480 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2000

About the author

Through poetry, prose, and drama, American writer James Langston Hughes made important contributions to the Harlem renaissance; his best-known works include Weary Blues (1926) and The Ways of White Folks (1934).

People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A towering figure in American literature and history, Langston Hughes's generous spirit, wit, amazing talent, passion for civil rights, and warmth towards all of his correspondents, one could say all of humanity, shine through in these letters. I listened to one interview online where the guest, a Hughes scholar, said that he had written over thirty thousand letters in his lifetime. It's sobering and inspiring to reflect on how much of his time he gave in encouraging and helping others through these letters, even while writing poetry, operas, musicals, novels, cantatas, history books, and a newspaper column. Erudite, wise, articulate, full of energy and a zest for life, these letters demonstrate how important he was in championing racial justice and civil rights in the United States and throughout the world. But my review can't do them justice - read them to get a better understanding of this great writer and his noble soul.

[Bakari · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are important letters for African-American literature. Hughes was a prolific writer of the folk and jazz tradition. This is also a well edited book with great footnotes at the end of each chapter. There's no juicy personal letters in this collection, but you do get a window into a hard working poet, playwright, and writer. This book was a treat to read, and it complements Ramersad's much earlier two volume biography of Hughes.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genius with words, an intrepid wanderer, a griot, a fighter against lynching, state executions, and fascism, a lover of people, of colors, of rivers and dreams. He corresponded with people all over the world and here, are some of his wonderful letters. Thank you Arnold Rampersad!

And here is the review wrote for the SF Chronicle Book Review:
http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/S...

[Jane Ciabattari · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my books to read in February, for BBC.com:

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/2015...

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actual letters themselves were five stars. The introduction and preface were somewhat patronising in tone so two stars for that. But since the letters outweigh the introduction and preface the majority is four stars. One of the biggest tragedies of Langston Hughes life as bear witness by his early letters was the terrible influence of Charlotte Mason, also known as "Godmother", a name that invokes all the stereotype of the American-Italian gangster "Godfather". Her narcissism and gaslighting of Hughes and Hurston was the likely culprit of their rift. The woman was clearly incredibly toxic and used and abused the powers of 'patron' to wield over writers to manipulate them into what she thought was 'authentic' Black American literary voices. Which was to say only the voices of Black Americans had to be "primitive". Unfortunately for Hughes Mason was not the only white person to trample his creativity, talents and passions. Carl Van Vechten (so-called life long friend), Hollywood, Knopf publishing and others strove hard to cheat him out of money and make his life miserble to the extent in his editing of anthologies he was forced to leave out W.E.B Du Boise and Paul Robeson. Still Hughes pushed forward but the cost was his health. Growing up and living in a very obvious racist country that out right threatened his life, as others were brutally murdered, raped and abused everyday Hughes left a great legacy at a time (still to this day) prevents Black people from living and thriving. At no time since Hughes death that much has changed and if anything North American society is once again no longer to feebly attempt to hide the systematic and structuralism racism of this continent.

[Lệ Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

✤"I always do as I want, preferring to kill myself in my own way rather than die of boredom trying to live according to somebody else's 'good advice'". // p.34

✦"I hate to be a professional quarreler, but what you guys on THE CRISIS do to poetry is a sin and a shame. You stick it off in far corners in a column next to the ads, and put it in small type that makes it harder than it naturally is to read, and you thus hurt the poets' souls. Poets like to be published in good spots, with lots of nice-looking margin around them that attracts the eye so somebody will look at what they have to say, otherwise they're likely not to get looked at at all..." //p.212
≈≈≈≈≈≈
Throughout this book, Langston Hughes appeared as a resilient person despite going through failure after failure to make a better living with his career, a great poet who mocked himself as nothing than a 'literary sharecropper', a simple man with a loving heart even though love from the loved ones were the only thing he couldn't get.
*
Even though I admire Hughes a great deal, I still skimmed so many pages and didn't find this book enjoyable.
I understand the purpose of these letters is to maintain relationships with his family members, peers, fans and acquaintances but most of the letters are for work and reveal very few details of his personal life (rarely any love letters as well). The book is fairly monotonous as compared with other writers' letters I've read so far. Regarding the effort of the publisher in curating and editing, I still consider it as a book worth reading for any fan of this literary icon.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selected Letters is a tremendous and lovingly curated volume filled with fascinating correspondences with some of Hughes's most storied interlocutors. Whether it is currying favor with W.E.B. Du Bois after the publication of Famous Negro Music Makers (1955) or disagreements with James Baldwin after Hughes read the galleys of Nobody Knows My Name (1961), these letters and their careful editorial footnotes bring life to these letters.

One of the most fascinating through-lines of the text is Hughes's correspondence with Blanche Knopf, Maxim Lieber, and others involved with bringing Hughes's various writings to market. Though a comprehensive study on Harlem Renaissance patronage has yet to appear, Hughes's letters are a great part of that story.

But these conversations are just the tip of the iceberg. Hughes is as strong in his letter writing as he is in the best of his work. This is a wondrous time capsule and represents many untold stories of Hughes and his contemporaries.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have almost no experience reading books of famous people's letters. Certainly an interesting window into the life and personality and soul of the writer of the epistles. I think I will probably stick to the more conventional (auto)biography route in the future. But I'm glad to have "gotten acquainted with" Langston Hughes via his many letters. They certainly have an immediacy which an (auto)biography just cannot have. On the other hand, letters don't flow as well as an (auto)biography does. They may work better as a good supplement to an (auto)biography. The footnotes are excellent and add a lot.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining collection of letters.

[Melanie Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

Langston Hughes is a gorgeous, thoughtful, talented poet. He traveled the world,and thus experienced many cultures. The introduction to this particular book explains that Hughes was terrible at writing back to people in a timely fashion, but he pretty much always wrote back. The letters would pile up on his bed and in his dresser drawers. When a group (I can't remember the name) wants to begin preserving African American culture for posterity, Hughes is happy to give up the mountains of letters to which he's responded because he never throws them away. So now, a huge chunk of Hughes's life is kept and recorded. The editors of this book aimed to find letters that would capture Hughes's life and not just the best letters or a certain time period or correspondence with a certain person. The result is obviously from a huge, tedious effort.

I couldn't get into the book. There are so many footnotes to explain Langston Hughes's references in his letters: people, places, events, projects on which he is working, etc. The footnotes destroy the feeling of reading an intimate letter, and it's true that not all of them are intimate. I was excited to read on the back cover that Zora Neale Hurston was in this book, but there was only one letter to her, and the footnotes revealed that apparently she took a play that she and Hughes were working on and had it produced without his knowledge--or his name on the credits. That made me feel terrible, as I love Hurston and had to think of her as a cheat.

Truly this book is a gold mine for graduate students writing a paper or thesis on the poet, but for the average reader, it's too detailed to simply sit and enjoy. Because I don't feel like the correct audience for this book (not at this point in my life, anyway), I'm not giving it any starts.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. Through these selected letters you get an insiders view on the process of an artist's life. Langston Hughes lived an interesting life (two autobiographies worth) but this book doesn't really go into detail on the accomplishments and activities, it merely refers to them. In doing so we get a deeper understanding of those circumstances. These correspondences were selected chronologically and read as if a biography. The footnotes are extremely helpful in clearing up names and events and are easy to follow they deserve some stars themselves. If there is an editorial award somewhere I here by nominate this book. One quirky observation on the publisher is that I must have read the name Knopf dozens of times. Not only was Knopf Huges's lifelong publisher he also had a friendly business relationship with the editor Blanche Knopf. And for some reason many of the books that appear in this selection are also Knopf books. I couldn't help but to assume product placement at hand. What a wonderful peek into a great mind and a piece of history.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lengthy but enjoyable read that showcases Hughes' wit, humor, affection, persistence and kindness. The insertions of his handwritten letters, photographs and artist illustrations are a big bonus, too.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shelf Awareness review

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

[Karen Cowgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book!!!!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

love lang's inside view of what it takes to be a writer...

[Mills College Library]

Biog H893hr 2015

[Barbara Heisey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crisp, witty, often buoyant letters. Langston Hughes's was an exceptional and useful life.