The author of such poems as I, To; Sing America; and The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Langston Hughes combined his experiences and emotions with the rhythms and themes he found in jazz music to create an exciting new style of poetry. Throughout his lifetime, Hughes won many awards and honors for his various books of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, childrens books, autobiographies, and magazine articles. Despite always struggling to succeed financially, Hughes never gave up trying to be a better writer, and a better man.