Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois since 1968, is the first black writer to have won the Pulitzer Prize: her second book of poetry, "Annie Allen," was selected for the award in 1950. Born in 1917, Brooks began her writing career...
[more]Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois since 1968, is the first black writer to have won the Pulitzer Prize: her second book of poetry, "Annie Allen," was selected for the award in 1950. Born in 1917, Brooks began her writing career while still a child growing up in the slums of Chicago. At the age of 13, her mother encouraged her to submit a poem to the "Chicago Defender," a local black newspaper. The piece was accepted, and Brooks continued to publish in the "Defender."
Although she initially considered herself a "universal poet," Brooks' work became increasingly political during the 1960s, concentrating on issues of racism and sexism. Her mentors, the poets James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, provided inspiration and a more focused poetic vision, and the Black Arts movement acted as a strong influence. Brooks' words, which are precise, taut, and at once intimate and epic, chronicle the lives of millions of Americans; she exposes, with directness and simplicity, the tangled contradictions at the heart of society. In addition to several volumes of poetry, Brooks has written numerous articles, essays, and one novel, "Maud Martha" (1953). She has taught at several universities and lectured at hundreds more. Since 1990, she has worked as a professor of English Literature at Chicago State University.
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