Letters, 1925-1967

by Arna Bontemps, Langston Hughes, Charles H. Nichols (Editor)

Book by Arna Wendell Bontemps, Charles Harold Nichols, Langston Hughes

Genres: African American

531 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1980

About the author

Works of poetry, history, and fiction, such as God Sends Sunday (1931) and Black Thunder (1936), established American writer Arna Wendell Bontemps as a leading figure of the renaissance of Harlem.

People note Arnaud Wendell Bontemps, an African novelist and librarian, as a member.

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

Reviews

[Aberjhani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets 5 stars for its priceless historical value alone but there is in fact even much more to it. Nothing else in American/African-American history and literature comes even close to this volume because to date it represents the only comprehensive collected correspondence between two giants of African-American literature. That by itself is notable but possibly even more so is the span of time, as indicated in the title, covered. Bontemps and Hughes were both stars of the Harlem Renaissance but these collected letters only begin there and take readers through the writers' first-hand experiences of, and reports on, the Great Depression, life during World War II, and the thunderous rumblings of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

They also contain the kind of shared literary intimacies and insights you hope to find in such books. For example, Hughes writes the following to Bontemps on Feb 18, 1953: "If you'll tell me what Dick Wright's book is like (since I haven't it) I'll tell you about James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain which I've just finished: If it were written by Zora Hurston with her feeling for the folk idiom, it would probably be a quite wonderful book. Baldwin over-writes and over-poeticizes in images way over the heads of the folks supposedly thinking them--although it might be as the people would think if they could think that way..."

Whether or not you agree with Hughes' or Bontemps' assessments in such instances, the thrill comes from getting their uncensored straight-from-the-gut responses. This is the case whether they are dealing with literature, politics, race relations, mutual acquaintances, the development of various cultural movements, or their everyday struggles to survive and thrive as literary artists. Their voices as presented through these letters are beautifully undiluted but powerfully informed, and therefore an invaluable treasure for anyone who appreciates the idea of literary camaraderie, loves the Harlem Renaissance, or simply enjoys checking out writers at their unscripted best.

by Aberjhani
author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

[Cara Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I went to the opening of Faulkner's _Requiem for a Nun_ last night. And the best critic there was a member of the Race who sat just behind me and snored real loud for _long_ stretches at a time. The newspaper critics treated it all most respectfully this morning, and LOVED Bertice Redding as the cullud dope-taking servant-whore. [...] somebody asks her what she would do in heaven, and she says, "Ah kin work." (Which is about the LAST thing any Negro expects to do in heaven). So I have put Faulkner down" (378) - Letter from Langston Hughes on January 31, 1959.

This excerpt is just one of the many frank, poignant, and fantastic remarks made by two of the great writers of the mid-twentieth century. Hughes and Bontemps are witty and carefree in their writing to each other - and are consistently referencing other writers (from Gwendolyn Brooks to Zora Neale Hurston to Countee McCullen) - making this an incredibly fun read. This work is also a gold mine of information about how the children's books that each men penned separately as well as together came to being, from _The Dreamcatcher_ to _Popo and Fifina_. I am so appreciative to Nichols for putting this lengthy volume together and grateful for Hughes and Bontemps' long friendship.