We at NYU English — the Some Contemporary Poetries (SCP) Initiative — are hosting Cabaret: a celebration to mark the 100th Anniversary of Langston Hughes’ The Weary Blues (1926) on November 20, 2025, 3:00 PM onwards (with refreshments, many breaks, conviviality). The event will feature readings, including a choral reading or two; a roundtable discussion with scholars–Paul Edwards (NYU), Kristin Grogan (Rutgers-New Brunswick), and Ernest Mitchell (Yale)–moderated by Sonya Posmentier (NYU); and a series of brief “Variations” — in which participants take five minutes to offer their responses to Hughes in any mode, critical or creative. We warmly invite you to be part of the Centennial Celebration!
RSVP for the event here

Cabaret welcomes you with generous support from the Program in Poetics & Theory; the Graduate English Organization; the Indigenous Literatures and Theories Working Group; the Organism for Poetic Research; the Postcolonial, Race, & Diaspora Studies Colloquium; the New Readings in Marx Working Group; and the Modern & Contemporary Colloquium. We aim to sponsor a capacious, low-key yet vibrant event, welcoming some Hughes experts and also Hughes initiates! The Weary Blues is a landmark volume, and it will be a delight and honor to celebrate it, Hughes, and to focus our collective attention on his legacy.