Gifted but poor poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, with assistance from his inventor friend Orville Wright, wrestles with “Fate, God, and the Devil” to achieve his dream of becoming a professional writer in an America riven by racism, riots, modernity, murder, and vaudeville.

SYNOPSIS:

The struggles, triumphs, and despair of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first black poet to achieve national esteem, parallels the struggles of his boyhood friend, Orville Wright, to develop and fly the first powered airplane, amid the turbulence, optimism, and racism of America in the 1890's.