Jean Toomer started his career as a teacher in Sparta, Georgia, before becoming a lecturer and writer. He wrote extensively for the Dial and other magazines, as well as wrote numerous plays. After the downfall of his book Cane (1923), Toomer attended the Gurdjieff Institute in France and became a teacher of meditation. Though he is now known as one of the most prolific authors of the Harlem Renaissance, Toomer—like most famous artists—was not well-known or praised until after his death in 1967.