Voices & Visions

Classroom Resources > Voices & Visions > 6. Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Hughes wrote of the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. Interviews, music, and dance performances convey his work and influence, discussed by James Baldwin and biographer Arnold Rampersad.

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Langston Hughes, among the most versatile and prolific of modern American authors, achieved distinction in poetry, fiction, and drama. Race is at the center of his work–the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. But Hughes was never racist–he always sought to speak to all Americans, especially on the larger issues of social, economic, and political justice.

Additional Resources

Academy of American Poets

Find out why Hughes was viewed as the unofficial poet laureate of his race in the exhibit, “Poets of the Harlem Renaissance and After.” This site explores Harlem Renaissance poetry, presents Hughes reading “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and offers a selection of Hughes’s other poetry as well as a brief biography.

Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes

This page features links to informational sites and lessons plans for teaching and learning about the life, times, work, and influence of Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes in Lawrence

This page offers a glimpse into Hughes’s life in Lawrence, Kansas, with photos and excerpts from the book Langston Hughes in Lawrence: Photographs & Biographical Resources by Denise Low & T.F. Pecore Weso.

Series Directory

Voices & Visions

Credits

Produced by the New York Center for Visual History. 1988.

Closed Captioning
ISBN: 0-89776-258-4

Programs

1 Elizabeth Bishop

From childhood in Nova Scotia to travels in Brazil, this program illustrates the geographic spirit of Bishop's life and works with scenes from her poems.

2 Hart Crane

Diverse locations and dramatizations of his life illustrate Crane's poetry and his greatest work, "The Bridge."

3 Emily Dickinson

Dramatic scenarios and New England landscapes illuminate the passionate genius of Dickinson, whose poems represent a broad range of imaginative experience.

4 T. S. Eliot

Eliot's life, influence, and poetry from the bold originality of "Prufrock" to the probing, meditative style of "Four Quartets" are explored with photos, archival footage, and discussion with friends, critics, and scholars.

5 Robert Frost

Frost's image as elder statesman is vividly contrasted with his vigorous, poetic exploration of the darker forces of nature and the human condition. Readings and interviews with the poet reveal compelling insights into his work.

6 Langston Hughes

Hughes wrote of the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. Interviews, music, and dance performances convey his work and influence, discussed by James Baldwin and biographer Arnold Rampersad.

7 Robert Lowell

Lowell's political passion encompasses much of his greatest poetry. Lowell himself reads from his work. Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Hass, and others discuss his development and style as illustrated by "Lord Weary's Castle" and "Life Studies."

8 Marianne Moore

Funny, formidable, and paradoxical, the poet and her work are analyzed by critics and friends, including Monroe Wheeler, Grace Shulman, and Patricia Willis. Her most memorable poems display her power of observation and moral force.

9 Sylvia Plath

The creative intensity with which Plath confronted her experiences as daughter, wife, mother, and writer is explored in documentary and archival footage intercut with visualizations of her work.

10 Ezra Pound

The most controversial of American poets — artistic catalyst, legendary confidant, and author of brilliant cantos — Ezra Pound and his poetry and role in the modernist movement are explored by friends and critics.

11 Wallace Stevens

Stevens's flamboyant verbal technique and philosophical vision of American life are beautifully illustrated by archival footage.

12 Walt Whitman

Brilliant readings of Whitman's poems demonstrate his American vision and style and vividly convey their poignance and sheer power. Whitman's sources, including Emerson, the King James Bible, opera, and political oratory, are revealed.

13 William Carlos Williams

"No ideas but in things," Williams's aesthetic dictum sought to capture, not analyze. A collage of documentary footage, interviews, animation, and dramatization capture the poet's often visual work and intense life.

Voices & Visions

Langston Hughes

Hughes wrote of the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. Interviews, music, and dance performances convey his work and influence, discussed by James Baldwin and biographer Arnold Rampersad.

Additional Resources

Series Directory

Credits

Programs

1 Elizabeth Bishop

2 Hart Crane

3 Emily Dickinson

4 T. S. Eliot

5 Robert Frost

6 Langston Hughes

7 Robert Lowell

8 Marianne Moore

9 Sylvia Plath

10 Ezra Pound

11 Wallace Stevens

12 Walt Whitman

13 William Carlos Williams

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