Hayden, Robert

Hayden, Robert (hā`dən), 1913–80, American poet, b. Detroit. After earning his M.A. at the Univ. of Michigan, he taught there and at Fisk Univ. Although the tone of his poems is quiet and often loving, he has a considerable gift for irony and his insights can be shattering. His Ballad of Remembrance (1962) was awarded a prize at the World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966.

Bibliography

See his Collected Poems (1985).

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Hayden, Robert (Earl) (b. Asa Bundy Sheffey) (1913–80) poet; born in Detroit, Mich. He studied at University of Michigan (1938; 1942; M.A. 1944), and taught there beginning in 1969. He wrote powerful poetry, sometimes using African-American themes, as in The Night-Blooming Cereus (1972).