Between 1921-1930, Hughes devoted his major writing efforts to poetry, and on the basis of his success definitely decided to pursue a literary career. In the 1930's, he turned to two new mediums of expression, prose and drama. His best published work of this decade is contained in a series of provocative short stories and in a volume of autobiography.

Hughes was one of many writers who concentrated on treatment of economic problems in the decade of the 1930's. With the collapse of the economy, realities of everyday life seemed more crucial than the romantic and amusing personal themes that had dominated the 1920's. It was not a happy time for the Negro writer. To a large extent he had been a fad of the 1920's like bobbed hair and Mah-jongg, but now that it was no longer profitable to feature Negro songs and stories, publishing opportunities were...