Along with his two siblings, Nugent and his family moved to New York when he was a teenager. He “discovered Harlem,” during what was perhaps its most exhilarating period—during the Harlem Renaissance period when the proliferation of arts, jazz, and dance were all the rage.

Having ingratiated himself with the literati in Harlem, Nugent soon had unfettered access to writers, artists, and intellectuals. Dr. Alain Locke, an architect of the Harlem Renaissance was one of his most influential supporters. A pivotal point of contact for Nugent was writer Langston Hughes who introduced Nugent to literary elite such as Zora Neal Hurston and Wallace Thurman—his introduction to the “inner sanctum” had a profound effect on Nugent’s career. In 1926, he co-edited of Fire. The magazine’s revolutionary publication was unique. Fire published material that was considered by some at the time to be “taboo”—including stories about prostitution, Black gay romance, and interracial relationships.

The magazine’s appeals aligned with Nugent’s own interests. “Smoke Lilies and Jade,” his most pivotal works, is a short story in which homosexuality is a central theme. At one point in the story, the protagonist “Alex,” famously remarked that, “You see, I am a homosexual. I have never been in what they call ‘the closet.’ Nugent’s characters punctuate his own ideas. The artist once remarked that, “It never occurred to me that it [homosexuality] was anything to be ashamed of, and it never occurred to me that it was anybody’s business but mine.” In addition to the publication of his work in Fire!!, Nugent’s work was also included in Crisis and Opportunity and in Allain Locke’s critically acclaimed New Negro anthology. The film adaptation of Smoke Lilies and Jade is seen as a, “semi-autobiographical retelling of Nugent’s own experience as a married man who publicly identified as bisexual—” Smoke, Lilies, and Jade” is the first positive expression of same-sex desire in American literature,” according to an interview with screenwriter Robert Philipson for PRIDE. Having first appeared in the one-issue Harlem Renaissance publication “FIRE!!,” and subsequently censored and deemed inappropriate because of its homosexual themes, Nugent’s exploration of bisexuality in his work and lived experience as someone who identified publicly with a sexual identity other than heterosexual was unheard of in the late 1920s.”

“Throughout his working life, Nugent has been legendary for his erotic art-deco drawings. These show the strong influence of Beardsley and Erte, but the style is distinctly Nugent’s. Eroticism is an element in nearly all of Nugent’s work. But “erotic” must be sharply distinguished from “pornographic.” With their elegant style and exquisite colors, even the most explicit of Nugent’s drawings are simply too beautiful to arouse the viewer sexually.”

Duke University’s Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Bruce Nugent (2002) celebrates the writer’s “bohemian” personality and place at center of the Harlem Renaissance.