One hundred years ago Langston Hughes published his now-famous first poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” In the decades that followed, as both a longtime resident of Harlem and a cosmopolitan world traveler, Hughes wrote of Black life in masterful, deceptively simple poems and prose that made him one of the most popular and influential writers of the twentieth century.

Join Brent Hayes Edwards, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and Rafia Zafar, Professor of African-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis and editor of Library of America’s two-volume collection of Harlem Renaissance novels, for a conversation about Hughes’ greatness and centrality for American literature and the global African diaspora. Featuring readings by poets Kevin Young and Tyehimba Jess.

There will be a brief Q&A at the end of the programme; you will be able to type a question and submit it to the event moderator.

Register to attend here

Registration is required to attend this event. After registering on Eventbrite, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom with instructions on how to join the presentation. We ask that you download the Zoom app in advance for the best user experience.

Presented in partnership with the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers; the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research; Washington University in St. Louis; and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Header Image: Langston Hughes. Painting by Winold Reiss (c.1925) National Portrait Gallery