Robert Hayden

Robert Hayden (birth name Asa Sheffey) was born in a very poor family that resided in Detroit, in Paradise Valley neighborhoods. The man suffered from an emotionally damaged childhood, partially raised by a pair of foster parents. Given his extreme nearsightedness, Robert Hayden preferred books over sports - a major difference from his friends at the time.

Once graduating in 1932 from a local high school, Robert Hayden attended Detroit College thanks to a scholarship. Later on, he successfully earned his graduate degree from the University of Michigan in English literature, being the very first Black member in the English department of Michigan faculty. A few years later, he went on to become the first American African that was appointed as the Consultant of The Congress Library Poetry.

Historical inspiration for most of Hayden's works stems from his in-depth research of African American and American history. Starting from the 1930s - during his research for a project of Federal Writers in Detroit - the man investigated Black people's stories from their African roots to their current conditions in the U.S. In "Black is the Cosmos Color '', Charles T.Davis wrote that the history of black people has always haunted Robert throughout his entire poet career".

Years: 1913–1980

Most famous works: Those Winter Sundays, Words in The Mourning Time