June 27, 1946

Dear Sr. Carvalho Da Silva:

I was very happy to have your letter and am deeply grateful to you for the kind word which you say about my work. Certainly I would be happy to have you translate any of my poems you wish and include them in your proposed anthology. However, any poems taken from my published books may be used only by securing the permission of my publishers, Alfred A. Knopf, Incorporated, 501 Madison Avenue, New York, New York.

I am sending you copies of my books of poems which you do not have, namely, THE WEARY BLUES AND SHAKESPEARE IN HARLEM. For permission to use the sketches from any of these books, you must also get the permission of the publisher.

I am also sending you various manuscripts of unpublished poems of mine not yet printed in a book. You have my permission to use translations of these in the Portuguese language, in newspapers, magazines, or otherwise without charge.

As you perhaps know, my autobiography, THE BIG SEA, appeared in Brazil in 1944 under the title of O IMENSO MAR (Editorial Vitoria). Perhaps that same publishing house would be willing to publish your anthology.

Thank you very much for sending me your article from CORREIO PAULISTANO. Should you come across any other articles about me or translations of my work in Brazil, I would appreciate it very much if you would send them to me.

I would be very happy to meet your brother from Yale whenever he is in New York City.

All good wishes to you.

Sincerely yours,

Sr. Domingos Carvalho Da Silva
Rua Barão de Paranapiacaba No. 61

San Paulo, Brazil

Companhia Editora Nacional

RUA DOS GUSMÕES, 639
ENDEREÇO TELEGRÁFICO EDITORA — CAIXA, 32-A
SÃO PAULO

JULY 15th, 1947

Mr. Langston Hughes
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Dear Mr. Hughes:

It was really a great pleasure to receive your kind letter of June 3. I confess that I was already a little afraid for the book I sent you after trying many times to see you in New York. It was my intention to go to Atlanta too, but, unfortunately, I only could spend in Atlanta, Ga. the fast moving ten minutes of scale of the plane coming from New Orleans and going to New York. I hope we will be able to see each other some day, either in the States or in my Brazil, that hopes to be seen by the great American poet!

As I translated many of your poems into Portuguese, only by the pleasure of doing it, I would like to deserve a "payment" for that. Yes, a payment! Could you send me an autographed copy of FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW ( the only work of yours that I don't have ) or any other work? I have already a copy of FIELDS OF WONDER, which Knopf gave me.

Excuse me for this "falta de verguenza", to put it in Spanish, as your Portuguese seems to be rather vague...But I really would like very much to have this kindness from you. I do admire your poetry very much. I am even considering the possibility of organizing and publishing ( I am Editor of this Company) an anthology of your translated works.

Now another very important thing to explain: the book I sent to you, ROSA EXTINTA, is not a work of mine. I was only the person who carried it from the author to you. That's all. Forgive me for this misunderstanding.

Waiting with deep interest for any further news
from you, I remain,

ES:RBL

Libretto TROUBLED ISLAND sent 7/27/48

ENDEREÇO TELEGRÁFICO EDITORA — CAIXA, 32 - A
SÃO PAULO

São Paulo, July 19, 1948

Dear Langston Hughes:

I beg your pardon for this late reply to your letter
of June 20th. I couldn't answer before because I was out-of-
town, having a deserved holiday after months of ininterrupted
work, hard work.

I promise to do my best in favor of TROUBLED ISLAND.
William Grant Still is scarcely known in Brazil, but your name
is quite familiar to the critics and to thousands of readers,
as many of your poems have been translated, as well as your
excellent THE BIG SEA.

The first thing to do is to have the libretto sent
to me at your earliest convenience. I cannot affirm that you
can count on a production here, as we do not have the facili-
ties nor the cast for such a work, as you have in the States.
I've already got in touch with some people and the results were
quite satisfactory. But the physical presence of the manuscript,
I mean, of the libretto here is primordial.

What about your latest poems? Would it be possible
to send copies to me? I would be only too glad to translate them
for publication in our literary magazines, with your permission,
of course.

Mr. Langston Hughes
634, St. Nicholas Avenue
NEW YORK 30, N.Y.

Reconhecida como de Utilidade Pública
pelo Decreto n. 4.092, de 4 de agosto
— de 1920. —

Filiada à Confederação Internacional das
Sociedades de Autores e Compositores,
— de Paris. —

SOCIEDADE BRASILEIRA DE AUTORES TEATRAIS

Fundada em 27 de Setembro de 1917

Séde: AV. ALMIRANTE BARROSO, 97 - 3.º andar.

End. Teleg.: SBAT - RIO

RIO DE JANEIRO — BRASIL

Rio de Janeiro, September 20th, 1956.

Mr. Langston Hugues,
20 East 127th Street
New York 38, N.Y.

Dear Sir:

The "Sociedade Brasileira de Autores Teatrais", founded in 1917, is an institution that congregates all Brazilian playwrights and the foreign ones filiated to the respective Society of Authors with whom we have contracts of reciprocal representation. With the United States we could never establish an agreement of reciprocity, for the general representation of American authors, because there is no such entity there, that congregates all playwrights. The authors grant their powers to different Agents, with whom we enter into contact and request for authorization for the performance of the American plays in Brazil.

As our Society is the only existing and that congregates all the playwrights, having the privilege of being of Public Utility by Government's approval, all the subjects regarding theatre, naturally comes to our offices.

It was in that condition that we received a photostat of an authorization granted by yourself to Mr. Geraldo Campos de Oliveira, on June 26, of this year, for the representation of your play MULATTO, by the Negro Experimental Theatre. And through that document we were aware of your authorization for the translation and the performance, with no payment of copyrights, the play having the right of being performed commercially — as it is the case — since it does not go over 20 representations.

We do not want to criticize your attitude, which is legitimate, but would like to advise you that you should not grant such an authorization, i.e., with no payment of copyrights, because in Brazil, every organization were instructed by the SBAT to respect the author's right and follow the schedule for the copyrights. In cases of that nature, we charge a minimum rate, but never fail charging it.

We understand your high spirit of author, your advanced ideals of writing plays in elevation of Negroes and in this connection we are in perfectly harmony with your point of views and ideals. But it happens that the copyright is legitimate and

Séde: AV. ALMIRANTE BARROSO, 97-3.º andar.

End. Teleg.: SBAT-RIO

RIO DE JANEIRO — BRASIL

- 2 -

in these cases, the author should not dispense them.

Putting this case apart, we ask you to send us a list
of your plays in order to help us in attending our members,
interested in them. And any time you received a request by
a private individual, it will be of your best convenience to
hear us on the matter, as we are in position of collecting
money and fiscalize the copyrights due to yourself, prevailing
of our extense organization in the national territory. We
will be aware, also, for the representations of MULATTO and
will control the representations given, having in mind the
spirit of your letter above mentioned.

AWaiting for the pleasure of establishing a mutual
correspondence, we take this opportunity to reiterate our
high esteem and consideration.

Yours faithfully,

September 28, 1956

Mr. Djalma Bittencourt, Superintendent
Sociedade Brasileira De Autores Teatrais
Sede: Ave. Almirante Barroso, 97-3 andar
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Dear Mr. Bittencourt;

Thank you very much indeed for your long letter of September 20 so kindly explaining the situation in relation to authorIs royalties in Brazil. I gather that the Society is similar to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in the United States which protects the rights of composers and songwriters. But we have no such organization for dramatists. In the future I will certainly route my Brazilian dramatic rights through your organization.

The Negro Experimental Theatre which presented MULATTO wrote me that they had almost no money. And since I wanted to aid them in the continuance of their group I was willing to grant them the use of MULATTO for non-commercial performances without charge on condition that if the play were done over a long period as a commercial production, then of course, I should receive royalties. Your letter indicates that you understand and appreciate this attitude but it certainly should not be a regular practice nor set a precedent.

I enclose a list of my plays as you request, and if other requests for my plays come to me from Brazil, I shall correspond with you. I should like to call to your attention the fact that I have given the Negro Experimental Theatre, permission to do another of my plays - a once-and-only drama entitled SOUL GONE HOME.

Again with thanks for your kind letter, I am

Sincerely yours,

LH/g

Langston Hughes

Rojas (Bs.As.) Noviembre 4 de 1955

Mr. Langston Hughes

20 East- 127th Street

New York 35 N.Y.

U.S.A.

Dear Sir:

We are writing to you to
tell you that here,in Rojas,we have performed your play
"Mulatto" for the first time in a theatre in the Argentine
Republic.

We are members of the Teatro Libre Florencio Sánchez,
which is what we call, in Spanish, "teatro independiente"

We are a group of play-goers boys and girls that wish to
do good theatre.Twice, we have obtained rewards in national
concours of theatre.

When we were looking for a play to act in our theatre, we
read "Mulatto", and since the beginning we all like it, and
we thought that "Mulatto" was the best play that we could
choose. Though in Argentine we have not troubles with races,
we have felt the question between negroes and whites in
United States, as if we had lived it.

We all like Cora Lewis, the character that joins the
poetry and the drama; and Robert, whose words are the truth
and the justice, but that he is not listened to; and Tom

March 22, 1948

Sr. Centídio Corrêa de Toldeo
Rua Itanê, 289 c/3
SAO PAULO, BRASIL
South America

Dear Sr. Toldeo:

This is to acknowledge your letter to Mr. Langston Hughes
of March 18th.

At present Mr. Hughes is out of the city on his annual cross-country lecture tour which takes him all the way from New York City to the state of Washington on the West Coast. The tour will take some four months to complete and we don't expect him back in the city before the end of June.

However, I am holding your kind letter for his attention when he returns in the summer. And under separate cover I am sending you a copy of the magazine OUR WORLD in which Mr. Hughes' poem, FREEDOM TRAIN appeared. I hope that you will enjoy it.

I know that Mr. Hughes will be pleased to know that even in
Brasil his work is known and read and appreciated. I have al-
so taken the liberty of enclosing with the magazine a copy of
a reprint from the magazine PHYLON by Mr. Hughes entitled
MY ADVENTURES AS A SOCIAL POET which I hope you will enjoy!

All good wishes to you and the people of Brasil.

São Paulo, S.P.

June 17, 1948.

Dear Miss White:

About two months ago I received your kindly letter in which you
replied mine of March 18th. After some days I received a copy of
the magazine required with the poem and the reprint from the magazi-
ne Philon with the article "My adventures as social poet".

I should have written this before but I've been ill and had no
opportunity to write you giving an answer while in bed. I'm really
ashamed and ask you my excusses for been later in the answer.

Mr. Langston Hughes's poem is a great success. The American Negro
Negroes should be proud of having such a man. The poem is making a
big success between us (Negroes) here in Brasil, especially between
the few people who knows a little of English (I say that because
some people read the poem in Portuguese (Someone made a translation
into our language, but its not so good as it is in the original)).

Once more I want to thank you very much for the magazine, arti-
cle and the kindly letter you wrote me. I hope you'll understand
my bad English and I hope I'll hear from you again.

People here thanks very much your good wishes and they wish
the same for you and your people.

P.S. - Here I'm going to ask you something perhaps impossible for you, but... Do you know of any boy or girl who would like to have correspondence with me and someother Brazilian? If so, could you give them my address? (Below)

Cantidio Corrêa de Toledo
Rua Itambé, 289 c. 3 - São Paulo, Brasil

Florida (Buenos Aires) May 23th. 1942.

Mr.
Langston Hughes.

New York.

Dear Mr. Hughes:

Having read your wonderful book entitled "The Weary Blues" I can not deprive myself of the satisfaction of expressing to you my sincerest congratulations for such a great work of poetry.

With very keen interest I have read some of your previous poems, but the "The Weary Blues" has been to me the most powerful and beautiful of all. This new work has once again confirmed your genuine talent and skillful artistry.

Needless to say I am unknown but a great admirer of your style of poetry and as such I beg you to accept my words of praise.

I take this opportunity to kindly ask you to return the attached card written with a thought of any oy your poems, or with any of the "blues rhythms" you may like.

I would like to keep it as a souvenir from the poet whose inspiration I feel so happy to understand.

Thanking you in anticipation for this favor.

I remain,

Guemes 1945
Florida.-FCCA.
Buenos Aires.
República Argentina
South América.-

February 12, 1955

Dear Miss Valdovinos:

How very kind of you indeed to send me your
very lovely book of poems HACIA EL UMBRAL
PROMETIDO, so warm and human and beautiful,
and simply written. I am delighted to add
it to my every-growing collection of Latin-
American literature and I am glad that Al-
fredo Casey suggested that you send it to
me. It is a very attractive looking book
too with such a bright and handsome jacket.
I hope that it will have many readers.

Please give my very best regards to Mr.
Casey and tell him that I hope he will
come back to visit our country soon. And
to you I send my very best wishes for con-
tinued literary success.

Miss Dora Nelida Valdovinos
Route 49 U0860 Ciudad Eva Peron
Provincia Buenos Aires
Republica Argentina

February 1, 1960

Dear Marciano Vera:

Thank you very much indeed for so kindly sending me the book which Raul Galer left for me. If you are in touch with him, please tell him I am very sorry not to have seen him--- that I have been out of New York almost continuously the past three months---Trinidad and Puerto Rico, then California, and have just recently returned to town. Now tomorrow I leave New York again for a 3 weeks lecture tour of the Middle West. I've really been BUSY lately---plus a show in rehearsal, SHAKESPEARE IN HARLEM, to open at the 41st Street Theatre on Tuesday, February 9th--- while I am away, so I'll miss the opening.

But I am certainly most grateful to you for sending me the book.

With cordial regards,