James Mercer Langston Hughes, was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin Missouri. At a early age he found himself moving state to states.  His parents got a divorce at a young age, resulting in his father moving to Mexico, and him being move Lincoln, Illinois with his grandmother then to Cleveland,Ohio with his mother. Hughes found his passion for poetry in Illinois while living with his grandmother. Fast forward to his later life,  Hughes was first started getting recognized in 1920s during the ” Harlem Renaissance” , in 1926, he published his first poetry book ” The Weary Blues”. Despite being recognize as in  ” important literally figure” , Hughes early works was criticizes by many black intellectual, for portraying a different view of black life.  It so much to say about someone’s life that a blog post can’t cover.  Langston Hughes was more than an American poet, he was a novelist, fiction writer, playwright and a social activist. His works brought an insightful portray of black life in America during the Renaissance.  In addition to his poetry works, Hughes wrote eleven plays, countless work of prose.. Hughes once said ” … the only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep doing it, and finally you’ll finish it,….”. On May 22,1967 he died of complications from prostate cancer.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Langston Hughes.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Aug. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Langston-Hughes

Langston Hughes born “James Mercer Langston Hughes”  was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. During his early childhood he was raised by his grandmother until he was 13 then moved to Illinois  to live with his mother and her husband at the time. Even though he started writing poetry when he was in High School or a little bit before then, he moved around a lot from Mexico to New York City. Hughes held several jobs  during his such as cook, assistant, launderer and busboy. In 1926, Hughes first book of poetry was published titled, “The Weary Blues” and was published by Alfred A. Knopf. Also after he finished college at Lincoln University, in 1930 his first novel “Not Without Laughter” was published by Knopf, which ended up winning the Harmon gold medal for literature. Hughes was also known for his knowledge and views on black life in America. Hughes’ belief in humanity and belief that people of all walks of life could understand each other and get along ultimately led to his popularity downfall.  Hughes also wrote 11 plays and multiple prose poems, which included his well known series of books called “Simple’. Unfortunately, Hughes died of prostate cancer on May 22, 1967 in New York City.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/langston-hughes

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes

Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey in Massachusetts, 1928. She attended college for a year, modelled for a time and got married. At 26, Sexton was diagnosed with postpartum depression, a mental illness due to a chemical imbalance from childbirth, which she developed after the birth of her first daughter. She suffered her first mental breakdown and she found herself in a neuropsychiatric hospital for treatment. She would continue to receive help after many more breakdowns. After another breakdown she had after her second daughter, her children were sent to live with her husband’s, Alfred Muller Sexton II, parents. And in that same year, Sexton attempted suicide. It was Sextons doctor that suggested and encouraged her to pursue and take up writing poetry as an outlet for her troubled mind. In 57, she got into a poetry workshop where she met a close friend and fellow poet, Maxine Kumin. Kumin was able to see firsthand the benefit of Sextons writing, as she described her writing as something “that gave Sexton something to work toward and develop and thus enabled her to endure life for as long as she did” (poetry.org). Anne faced many challenges throughout her life and her many breakdowns stemmed from traumatic experiences. These included the loss of both her parents, the physical abuse of her husband leading to a divorce that also contributed to a decline in health, and due to this decline, she ended up having issues with her daughters taking care of and dealing with her. She had to deal with loneliness, alcoholism along with her depression. Yet, despite all these considerably major obstacles and though they could be considered setbacks, Sexton made a very successful career in poetry. She obtained many awards and much recognition. She received the Pulitzer Prize. She accumulated honors like the Frost Fellowship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, the Levinson Prize, the Shelley Memorial Prize, the American Academy of Arts and Letters traveling fellowship and she was recognized by Harvard and was extended an invitation to give the Morris Gray reading. She didn’t stop there though. Following all those, she added the Guggenheim Fellowship, Ford Foundation grants, honorary degrees, professorships at Colgate University and Boston University and more. Unfortunately in 1974, at the age of 46, Anne Sexton couldn’t win her battle mentally and committed suicide.