More Information Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration at the University of Kansas Go to Langston Hughes biography Editors note: Scans of photos of Alice Walker and Danny Glover are available by calling University Relations (785) 864-8853 Related topics Undergraduate Study in African and African-American Studies at KU Langston Hughes professor recalls Kansas City roots Search KU News releases Subscribe now to receive KU News by email

Contact: Heather Hoy, KU Continuing Education, (785) 864-5823 or toll free at (877) 404-5823.

Langston Hughes centennial celebration at KU to draw noted actors, writers

LAWRENCE -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker and acclaimed actor Danny Glover are among the artists and scholars planning to celebrate the 100th anniversary of writer Langston Hughes Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 to 10 at the University of Kansas.

KU and the Langston Hughes Society in Athens, Ga., will welcome artists and scholars to join a centennial celebration of the life and legacy of Hughes, born Feb. 1, 1902. In addition to Walker, Glover and Pinsky, the following people also will attend:

 • Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, actors who performed the first audio recordings of Hughes' works;
 • Kevin Powell, writer and founding staff member and former senior writer for Vibe magazine who helped introduce the hip-hop generation to Hughes' work;
 • Paule Marshall, New York University professor and MacArthur grant winner; and Ishmael Reed, novelist, who are writers influenced and nurtured by Hughes; and
 • Arnold Rampersad, Hughes' biographer and Stanford University professor.

They will join others for a 2002 symposium in Lawrence, Hughes' childhood hometown. Born in Joplin, Mo., Hughes lived in Lawrence from 1903 to 1915. His book, "Not without Laughter," is a fictionalized account of a bittersweet childhood in Lawrence, said Maryemma Graham, KU professor of English. This symposium is part of a celebration in Lawrence to recognize Hughes' contributions to American literature.

"When he died in 1967, there wasn't much recognition of his Lawrence connections. This is our opportunity to recognize him, his work and his childhood in Lawrence," Graham said.

Walker will begin the centennial celebration on Jan. 31 with an evening of readings and commentary on Langston Hughes at KU's Lied Center. Walker, who also has written a biography of Hughes, won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, "The Color Purple."

The symposium will be Feb. 7 to 10. Program details and related events in Lawrence and the area will be posted regularly at www.kuce.org/hughes. "We are working to make this a public festival in the spirit of Langston Hughes," said Graham, who serves on a planning committee that is seeking funding to make the symposium events free to the public.

"We're using the theme 'Let America Be America Again,' to provide a stage for renowned scholars from the United States and abroad to present fresh and illuminating perspectives on Hughes and his work," Graham said.

"Let America Be America Again" is part of the Langston Hughes National Poetry Project, a series of activities and performances designed to encourage a deeper understanding of the role of poetry in American culture and everyday life.

The symposium will include

 • performances of Hughes' works by noted artists
 • an exhibit of Hughes' papers
 • community events in Lawrence
 • a special post-symposium Poetry-in-Motion Festival in Lawrence
 • related events at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Mo.

People may register online to attend the symposium and may enter an on-line discussion forum in advance.

The Web site also provides a bibliography of Hughes' work and of books about him and his work, historical resources and links to related events.

Graham, Bill Tuttle, KU professor of American studies, and Heather Hoy, KU Continuing Education program manager, are organizers for the KU event. Campus offices supporting the symposium include the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Hall Center for the Humanities, the Chancellor's and the Provost's offices, Spencer Research Library, KU's Student Senate and Student Union Activities. The symposium organizers are working with a group of Lawrence residents also planning Hughes centennial commemorative events.

Danny Glover's appearance was arranged through the Greater Talent Network, Inc., New York, N.Y.

BIOGRAPHY: Langston Hughes, 1902-1967

Born Feb. 1, 1902, in Joplin, Mo., Hughes lived with mostly with his grandmother, Mary Langston, in Lawrence from 1903 to 1915, while his mother, Carolina Leary Hughes, sought better jobs. His grandfather, Charles H. Langston, had settled in Kansas in 1862 as a free man and abolitionist. Charles and Mary Langston were educated at Oberlin College in Ohio. They met and married there in 1869. They returned to Kansas and bought a farm just northwest of Lawrence.

In the 1920s, Hughes moved to Harlem and ultimately became the most prominent figure in the literary, artistic, and intellectual phenomenon known as the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote poems for The Crisis, the NAACP magazine, and in 1926 published his first book of poetry, "The Weary Blues." Hughes became one of the best-known and most versatile American writers of the 20th century. His creative range--poetry, novels, short fiction, drama, translations, gospel-song plays, libretti, children's books, radio and television scripts, history and autobiography -- is rare in American letters.

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