Dickson, Donald C. A Bio-Bibliography of Langston Hughes, 1902-1967. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1967. A basic source for material about Hughes's life and work that was produced during his lifetime.

Emanuel, James A. Langston Hughes.

New York: Twayne, 1967. An intelligent and informative discussion of Hughes's life and work.

Hughes, Langston. The Langston Hughes Reader. New York: Braziller, 1958. Hughes's own selections of the work he wanted to preserve. Includes some commentary.

O'Daniel, Therman B. Langston Hughes: Black Genius. New York: William Morrow, 1971.A wide-ranging collection of essays, including studies of Hughes and Walt Whitman, of Hughes as a dramatist and literary experimenter, and of his use of Afro-American folk and cultural traditions.

Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, 1988. Described as a "superlative study" by the New York Times Book Review, the two volumes of Rampersad's biography are by far the...