Apr
10
2009
Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was mostly raised by his grandmother in Kansas because of his parents marital problems. He began writing for his high school newspaper and yearbook; he also began writing poems, stories and plays. He attended Columbia University for one year. After that he found his way to Paris in 1920 where there was an expatriate black community which included Josephine Baker. He returned to the US a couple of years later and attended Lincoln University; he received his BA in 1929. 
Langston Hughes was an influential contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920. His first poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers , was published in The Crisis in 1921. His first collection of poems was published as The Weary Blues (1926). Not Without Laughter, his first novel, was published in 1930. In 1935, he received the Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1938, he established the Harlem Suitcase Theater. Langston Hughes published his first “Simple” novel, Simple Speaks his Mind in 1950. He wrote a total of 4 “Simple” novels. Throughout his career, Hughes wrote numerous poems, several novels, many plays, non-fiction books and even children’s books.
Langston Hughes died on May 27, 1967 from surgery related to prostate cancer.
Apr
07
2009
William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, England. He was the second child of 5; his sister Dorothy, who he was very close to throughout his life, was born the year after him. He was sent away to school in 1778 after his mother died. He attended St. John’s College at Cambridge University beginning in 1787; he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1791, Wordsworth went to France because he believed in the ideals of the French Revolution. While there he had a relationship with Annette Vallon and they had a daughter. Wordsworth returned to England but did support his daughter for the rest of his life. In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson; they had 5 children, 3 of whom survived to adulthood. 
William Wordsworth had his first poem published in 1787 in The European magazine. His first collection of poetry was An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches which was published in 1793. During this time, Wordsworth became close friends with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The two poets joined forces and produced Lyrical Ballads in 1798. One of Wordsworth’s better known collections of poems is Ode: Imitations of Immorality from Recollections of Early Childhood which includes the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud . In 1843, William Wordsworth became the Poet Laureate for Great Britain, becoming responsible for composing poems to celebrate state events and monarchs.
After a long and productive life, William Wordsworth died on April 23, 1850 of pleurisy.
Apr
06
2009
Katherine Mansfield was born on October 14, 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand. She published her first short stories while still in high school. In 1903, she moved to London to attend Queen’s College; she returned to New Zealand in 1906. She moved back to London in 1908, where her father sent her £100 a year to live on. In 1909 she became pregnant with the child of Arnold Trowell. She quickly married George Bowden, but the marriage was never consummated and she separated from him the next day; they were divorced finally in 1917. She lost the child; this was the first of three pregnancies that were unsuccessful. Mansfield began an affair with John Middleton Murry in 1911; they were married in 1918 after her divorce became final. While they remained married, they lived apart often. She was diagnosed with TB in 1917 and moved to France to escape the English dampness. She suffered from the disease for the rest of her life and tried many treatments that were all unsuccessful.
Katherine Mansfield’s first collection of short stories, In a German Pension , was published in 1911. Most of her collections of short stories were published after her death. Throughout her career she published many poems and short stories and is considered to be one of the best short story writers of the 20th century. Mansfield was a friend of D.H. Lawrence and was the model for the character of Gudrun in Women in Love .
Katherine Mansfield died on January 9, 1923 in Fontainbleu, France.
Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was mostly raised by his grandmother in Kansas because of his parents marital problems. He began writing for his high school newspaper and yearbook; he also began writing poems, stories and plays. He attended Columbia University for one year. After that he found his way to Paris in 1920 where there was an expatriate black community which included Josephine Baker. He returned to the US a couple of years later and attended Lincoln University; he received his BA in 1929. 
