During Toomer's time as principal of Sparta Agricultural and Industrial Institute in Georgia, he wrote stories, sketches, and poems drawn from his experience there. These formed the basis for "Cane", his High Modernist novel published in 1923. "Cane" was well received by both black and white critics. "Cane" was celebrated by well-known African-American critics and artists, including Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman. Toomer attributed the success of "Cane" to his African ancestry and his immersion in the black folk culture in rural Georgia.