The Music of Langston Hughes

Hughes, best-known as one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the original jazz poets, published his debut book at 23 to critical acclaim. He was the first black American poet to support himself solely through his writing and his speaking. Poet and scholar Charles Bernstein has compared his radical impact to that of Gertrude Stein, calling both writers of “great antiepics.” His contribution towards helping American poetry come into its own and break from English traditions has been enormous.

This course will consider Hughes’s poems in the context of the African-American music that influenced his work and the later poets he inspired, such as Yusef Komunyaaka, Sonia Sanchez, and Jack Kerouac and his “spontaneous bop prosody.” We’ll also consider how Hughes’s work breaks with the literary tradition in English, in contrast to Paul Laurence Dunbar, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay.

Course includes 15 instructor-led online forum discussions focused on poetic craft (in our private course area, with each lesson’s kickoff post sent to your email), four small-group peer-led Zoom calls, prompts for creating your own imitations / poetic responses, and an ongoing class forum where you can interact with other participants. There will be a lot of material and options provided: how deeply you want to participate will be up to you.

Cost: $50

Instructor: Meg Hartmann

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