author
DuBose Heyward
1885–1940
Best known for the novel Porgy, he helped create one of the most influential American stories to move from page to stage and then into opera. His writing drew deeply on Charleston life, blending poetry, drama, and fiction in a voice that left a lasting mark on Southern literature.
3 Audiobooks
Carolina chansons : legends of the low country
by DuBose Heyward, Hervey Allen
Porgy
by DuBose Heyward
Mamba's daughters : A novel of Charleston
by DuBose Heyward
About the author
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1885, DuBose Heyward became an American novelist, poet, and playwright whose work was closely tied to the people and atmosphere of the South. After leaving school young and working on the waterfront, he turned seriously to writing and became part of Charleston's literary revival in the early 20th century.
His best-known book, Porgy (1925), grew out of his observations of Black life in Charleston and brought him national attention. He later adapted the story for the stage with his wife, Dorothy Heyward, and then worked with George Gershwin on the opera Porgy and Bess (1935), for which he wrote lyrics including the words to "Summertime."
Heyward also published poetry and other fiction, and he helped found the Poetry Society of South Carolina. He died in 1940, but Porgy and Porgy and Bess continue to shape how readers and audiences remember him.