Robert Hayden (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
African American poet Robert Earl Hayden, named Asa Bundy Sheffey when he was born, grew up poor in Detroit, raised by foster parents (the Haydens) who wanted him to have a good education. In Hayden’s well-known poem “Those Winter Sundays,” he recalls his foster father getting up early to make “banked fires blaze” and to polish his shoes.
After high school and years of odd jobs and reading in libraries, Hayden managed to attend Detroit City College (now Wayne State University). He spent several years in the Federal Writers’ Project before beginning graduate work at...
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