1936 portrait by by Carl Van Vechten, public domain Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967) was a gay man who, because of his era and his community, was deeply in the closet. He remains one of my favorite poets. Hughes was also an inspired novelist, lecturer, columnist, playwright, and … [Read more...]
#BornThisDay: Writer, Dorothy West
Wikimedia Commons June 2, 1907 – Dorothy West: ''There is no life that does not contribute to history.'' Dorothy West was 88 years old living quietly on Martha's Vineyard when her neighbor, Jacqueline Onassis, encouraged her to finish her second novel, The Wedding. For … [Read more...]
Lean Year Christmas Cheer: Typewritten Cards from Gay Writer Langston Hughes
The Covid Christmas may seem bleak, but the great gay Black writer Langston Hughes had a tough, cold Christmas in 1950, even with no plague but the … [Read more...]
