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Reading lists

Fifteen non-fiction books to inspire you

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The essential Harlem Renaissance reads

Not Without Laughter

LANGSTON HUGHES was a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential American writers of the twentieth century. Hughes published more than thirty-five books, including his award-winning debut novel, Not Without Laughter, and the short story collection, The Ways of White Folks. His journalism and non-fiction became important documents in the support and promotion of the civil rights movement.

VINTAGE CLASSICS' HARLEM RENAISSANCE SERIES 
 
Celebrating the finest works of the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most important Black arts movements in modern history. 
 
'White peoples maybe mistreats you an' hates you, but when you hates 'em back, you's de one what's hurted, 'cause hate makes yo' heart ugly - that's all it does' 
 
Sandy's in the fifth grade when he's forced to sit on the back row away from his white classmates and denied entry to a new amusement park. His grandmother, who is raising him alongside his mother and aunt, tells him that love is the only thing to make room for in his heart. But it's Sandy's discovery of literature that inspires him to continue his education and make sense of the unjust world he inhabits in the debut novel from one of the foremost pioneers of the Harlem Renaissance. 
 
'[Hughes] gives his readers... a guide for careful consideration of the lives of everyday black people. Such a guide is still useful to readers and writers today. Perhaps now more than ever' Angela Flournoy, New York Times

The Ways of White Folks

'Powerful, polemical pieces'

'Some of the best stories that have appeared in this country in years'

THE CELEBRATED SHORT STORY COLLECTION FROM THE AMERICAN POET AND WRITER OFTEN CALLED THE 'POET LAUREATE OF HARLEM' 
 
A black maid forms a close bond with the daughter of the cruel white couple for whom she works. Two rich, white artists hire a black model to pose as a slave. A white-passing boy ignores his mother when they cross each other on the street. 
 
Written with sardonic wit and a keen eye for the absurdly unjust, these fourteen stories about racial tensions are as relevant today as the day they were penned, and linger in the mind long after the final page is turned. 
 
'Powerful, polemical pieces' New York Times 
 
'Some of the best stories that have appeared in this country in years' North American Review

The Estate of J. Langston Hughes

Joshua Bennett

One of the most important writers to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance, Langston 
Hughes may be best known as a poet, but he was also a brilliant storyteller, blending 
elements of blues and jazz, speech and song, into a triumphant and wholly original idiom. 
Perhaps more than any other writer, Langston Hughes made the white America of the 
1920s and 1930s aware of the Black culture thriving in its midst. Hughes's poetry and 
fiction works are messages from that America, sharply etched vignettes of its daily life, 
cruelly accurate portrayals of Black and white collisions. 
 
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free paper, 
with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, 
European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.

The Estate of J. Langston Hughes

Books by The Estate of J. Langston Hughes

Series by The Estate of J. Langston Hughes

Harlem Renaissance Series

Articles featuring The Estate of J. Langston Hughes

Fifteen non-fiction books to inspire you

The essential Harlem Renaissance reads

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