Paul Laurence Dunbar Biography
(Poet)
Birthday: June 27, 1872 (Cancer)
Born In: Dayton, Ohio, United States
Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American playwright, poet and novelist. He was born into a slave family in Dayton, Ohio, and started writing stories and verse very early. He gained recognition for his work in school and served as president of his high school literary society. Dunbar published his first poem in a Dayton newspaper at the age of 16. Most of his work was written in Black English. He also wrote in the Midwestern regional dialect and became one of the first African-Americans writers to get global recognition. One of his best known works is the lyrics for the Broadway musical ‘In Dahomey.’ He had a short life of just 33 years but he wrote several popular novels and poetry in conventional English. The New York Times named him; ‘A true singer of the people white or black’.