On Langston’s Looking: Danez Smith’s Curation of <i>Blues in Stereo</i>

ABSTRACT “On Langston’s Looking: Danez Smith’s Curation of Blues in Stereo” offers a thorough overview and analysis of Danez Smith’s anthology, Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes (2024). Blues in Stereo is unique in that it is the only collection of Hughes’s work from 1921–1927, curating the years leading up to and immediately after the publication of The Weary Blues (1926). Smith’s status as a prominent and popular contemporary poet has already positioned the collection in venues and conversations that would not typically be interested in such an anthology, helping to reinvigorate interest in Hughes’s poetry. Yet, what makes Blues in Stereo particularly valuable, given the attention that Smith draws, is how Smith collects and situates the young Hughes. “On Langston’s Looking” argues that Smith’s curation of Hughes foregrounds the Black love that organizes Hughes’ Black gaze. Smith’s resistance to forward speculation on Hughes sexuality to frame his poetry—instead focusing on how Hughes looks at and through Black subjects—promotes a critical and necessary reading of Hughes’s person and poetry, young and otherwise.