The Complete Works of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Poems. Novels. Short Stories. Illustrated ebook

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society. Dunbar's popularity increased rapidly after his work was praised by William Dean Howells, a leading editor associated with Harper's Weekly. Dunbar became one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. In addition to his poems, short stories, and novels, he also wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey (1903), the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York. The musical later toured in the United States and the United Kingdom. Suffering from tuberculosis, which then had no cure, Dunbar died in Dayton, Ohio, at the age of 33. Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the "Negro dialect" associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. Dunbar also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels and is considered the first important African American sonnet writer. Since the late 20th century, scholars have become more interested in these other works. Contents: COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS INTRODUCTION TO LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE  LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE  NATURE AND ART  LYRICS OF THE HEARTHSIDE  THE CONQUERORS  HUMOUR AND DIALECT  LYRICS OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER  LYRICS OF LOVE AND SORROW  LYRICS OF SUNSHINE AND SHADOW  MISCELLANEOUS  THE NOVELS  THE UNCALLED  THE LOVE OF LANDRY  THE FANATICS  THE SPORT OF THE GODS  THE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS  FOLKS FROM DIXIE  THE HEART OF HAPPY HOLLOW  THE STRENGTH OF GIDEON AND OTHER STORIES  IN OLD PLANTATION DAYS  UNCOLLECTED SHORT STORIES  THE NON-FICTION  REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN NEGROES