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African-American History
Robert Hayden
Bundy in 1913 (Hayden died in 1980), this poet and educator often
described himself as "a romantic forced to be realistic." Hayden was taken
in and renamed by a foster family early in his life, and grew up in the
ghetto.
Hayden largely wrote of religion, the past, and nature and was very
committed to his religion of the Baha'I Faith, yet he was constantly faced
with the realities of the contemporary world. In 1936, Hayden served as
chief researcher on Negro History and Folklore for the Federal Writers
Project (FWP).
After leaving the FWP, he wrote his book of poetry, Heart Shape in the
Dust, which was published in 1940. While at the University of Michigan,
Hayden won the Jule & Avery Hopwood Prize for Poetry in 1942 and 1944.
In 1946, Hayden published his two most famous poems, Middle Passage and
Frederick Douglass.
One of Hayden's most famous quotes can be found in the Dictionary of
Literary Biography: "There is no such thing as black literature. There's
good literature and bad. And that's all." In 1976, Hayden was named consultant
in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
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