DuBose Heyward facts for kids
Edwin DuBose Heyward (born August 31, 1885 – died June 16, 1940) was an American writer. He is most famous for his 1925 novel called Porgy.
He and his wife, Dorothy Heyward, who was a playwright, turned the novel into a play in 1927. Later, they worked with the famous composer George Gershwin to create the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. This opera was also made into a movie in 1959.
Heyward also wrote poems, other novels, and plays. He even wrote a children's book called The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes in 1939.
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Early Life and Education
DuBose Heyward was born in 1885 in Charleston, South Carolina. His parents were Jane Screven (DuBose) and Edwin Watkins Heyward. His family had a long history in South Carolina.
When Heyward was a child and young man, he was often sick. He got polio at age 18. Two years later, he got typhoid fever, and the next year he had pleurisy. He said he was not a good student and left high school at 14. However, he always loved literature and reading. He worked as a successful insurance agent to support himself. While he was sick in bed, he wrote many poems and stories.
In 1913, Heyward wrote a short play called An Artistic Triumph. It was shown in a local theater. Even though it wasn't a big hit, it made Heyward want to write more. In 1917, while recovering from an illness, he started writing fiction and poetry seriously. In 1918, his first short story, "The Brute," was published.
The next year, he met Hervey Allen, a teacher at a nearby school. They became good friends and started the Poetry Society of South Carolina. This group helped bring new life to writing in the Southern United States. Heyward helped edit the society's books until 1924. His poetry was well-liked, and he won an award in 1921.
In 1922, Heyward and Allen published a poetry book together called Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country. They also worked together to edit an issue of Poetry magazine that featured Southern writers. During this time, Heyward also ran a successful insurance and real estate business with his friend Henry T. O'Neill.
Marriage and Family Life
Heyward met his wife, Dorothy Heyward, in 1922 at the MacDowell Colony. This was a place where artists could go to work. After they got married, they lived in Charleston for many years.
Their only child, Jenifer DuBose Heyward, was born in 1930 in New York City. Jenifer grew up to be a sculptor, actress, and dancer. She was part of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She passed away in 1984.
Becoming a Full-Time Writer
By 1924, Heyward had enough money saved to stop working in business. He decided to focus on writing full-time. That year, he published his first poetry collection, Jasbo Brown and Other Poems. When he wasn't writing, he gave talks about Southern literature at colleges and the Porter Military Academy to earn extra money.
The Story of Porgy
In 1925, Heyward published his novel Porgy. The story is set in a black community in Charleston, South Carolina. Many of the characters were Gullah people, who have a unique culture.
The book was very popular. Because of this, DuBose and Dorothy, who was a playwright, decided to turn it into a play. While they were working on the play, the famous composer George Gershwin contacted Heyward. Gershwin wanted to work with him to turn the story into an opera.
Their play Porgy opened on Broadway in 1927. It was a big success, running for 367 performances.
The African-American poet Langston Hughes praised Heyward's work in Porgy. Hughes said Heyward saw "wonderful, poetic qualities" in the people of Catfish Row, making them "come alive." Heyward's biographer, James M. Hutchisson, said Porgy was "the first major southern novel to portray blacks without condescension." He also noted that much of the opera's story was Heyward's work. Many critics have said Heyward showed understanding in how he wrote about the Southern black characters.
However, some people have pointed out that while the characters in Porgy are shown with sympathy, they are sometimes described in ways that use old stereotypes.
The Opera Porgy and Bess
For the opera Porgy and Bess, both Heyward and Ira Gershwin (George Gershwin's brother) worked on the song lyrics. Heyward did not always get enough credit for his work on the lyrics.
The famous composer Stephen Sondheim wrote about DuBose Heyward in a book. He said that Heyward wrote some of the best song lyrics in American musical theater history for Porgy and Bess. Sondheim explained that Heyward was mainly a poet and novelist, and these were his only song lyrics. Also, some lyrics were written with Ira Gershwin, who was already a well-known lyricist. But Sondheim believed most of the important lyrics in Porgy and Bess were by Heyward.
The Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess was first performed in 1935. It featured top African-American singers and a chorus. Many parts of the play's dialogue were turned into music for the opera. At first, the opera had limited success. But since then, it has been performed many times, toured around the world, and is now seen as an important American opera.
Other Works
Heyward continued to write about black Charleston in another novel set in Catfish Row, called Mamba's Daughters (1929). He and Dorothy also turned this book into a play.
Heyward wrote the play Brass Ankle, which was performed in New York in 1931. The title refers to an old Southern term for someone with mixed-race family. The play was about a couple in a small Southern town who thought they were white but then learned they had some African-American ancestors. Critics liked the play, but it was not a big commercial success.
He also wrote the script for the 1933 movie based on Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones. Heyward's children's book, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes (1939), became very popular.
His short novel Star Spangled Virgin (1939) was set in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It was about the daily life of a couple named Adam Work and Rhoda. People described it as "charming and very original."
DuBose Heyward died from a heart attack in June 1940. He was 54 years old and passed away in Tryon, North Carolina.
Works by DuBose Heyward
Poetry Collections
- Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country (1922) (with Hervey Allen)
- Jasbo Brown and Other Poems (1924)
- Skylines and Horizons (1924)
Novels
- Porgy (1925)
- Angel (1926)
- Mamba's Daughters (1929)
- The Half Pint Flask (1929)
- Peter Ashley (1932)
- Star Spangled Virgin (1939)
Children's Literature
Plays
- Porgy (1927) (with Dorothy Heyward)
- Brass Ankle (1931)
- Mamba's Daughters (1939) (with Dorothy Heyward)
Screenplay
- The Emperor Jones (1933) from the play by Eugene O'Neill
Opera
- Porgy and Bess (1935) (with George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)
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