Langston Hughes was born in prefix = st1 /Joplin,Missouri, in 1902. His parents got divorced. He spent most of his childhood with his grandmother inLawrence,Kansas. She told him stories about their family and their fight to end slavery. Her storytelling filled him with pride in himself and his race. He first began to write poetry when he was living with her. In 1919, he moved to Cleveland,Ohio, to stay with his mother. He attended Central High School inCleveland. Langston was named Class Poet one year. He published his first short stories while still in high school. Langston Hughes struggled with a feeling of loneliness caused by his parents' divorce. He developed a love for reading books as a way to deal with the lack of time his parents spent with him. His love for reading grew into a desire to write. He wanted to reproduce the powerful effect other writers, like Walt Whitman, had made upon him. After graduating from high school in 1920, Langston moved to Mexico Cityto live with his father for one year. His father did not offer much warmth to him. Yet, Langston turned the pain caused by his family problems into one of his most famous poems," The Negro Speaks of Rivers." In this poem, he speaks of the strength and pride of black people in ancient African civilizations and inAmerica. Langston arrived in New Yorkat 19. Later, he left school, broke with his father, and began traveling. Traveling was a lifelong love that would take him throughout the world before he died. In 1922, Hughes took a job on a ship and sailed to Africa. He wrote poems and short stories during his travels. His experiences while traveling greatly influenced his work. He sent a few of his writings back home. They were published, and readers found a totally new and fresh style in his poems. Langston got his first short stories published when he was in  _  .
Joplin Cleveland Mexico City New York