Poet & Poetess BiographiesMaster Poets & Poetesses have bestowed upon us their poetic hues, graceful talents and prolific writings. You will find their biographies and sample writings here.
Gwendolyn Brooks, whose mother was a former school teacher and whose father faught in the Civil War, was born in Topeka, Kansas. She spent most of her life, though, on Chicago’s south side, whose Bronzeville neighborhood she memorialized in her poetry. Brooks is the first African American to ever receive a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry -- so honored for Annie Allen in 1950 -- and the first African American to be appointed to the American Academy of Arts & Letters (1976).
Brooks pictured with prolific Poet Langston Hughes. Lanston Hughes wrote of the Pulitzer Prize winning Annie Allen that "the people and poems in Gwendolyn Brooks' book are alive, reaching, and very much of today."
She is best known for her poetic descriptions of African American city life.
Brooks published her first poem in a children's magazine at the age of thirteen. When Brooks was sixteen years old, she had compiled a portfolio of around seventy-five published poems. Her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, published in 1945 by Harper and Row, brought her instant critical acclaim. She received her first Guggenheim Fellowship and was one of the “Ten Young Women of the Year” in Mademoiselle magazine. In 1950, she published her second book of poetry, Annie Allen, which won her Poetry Magazine’s Eunice Tietjens Prize and ultimately, the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. She published her 1st and only novel Maud Martha -- which details a black woman's life in short vignettes -- in 1950.
After John F. Kennedy invited her to read at a Library of Congress poetry festival in 1962, she began her career teaching creative writing. She taught at Columbia College Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, Elmhurst College, Columbia University, Clay College of New York, and the University of Wisconsin. In her distinguished and exceptional career, Brooks has been awarded more than seventy-five honorary degrees from colleges and universities worldwide.
In addition to Brooks' previously listed awards and honorariums, she was made Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968. In 1985, Brooks became the Library of Congress's Consultant in Poetry, a one year position whose title changed the next year to Poet Laureate. In 1988, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1994, she was chosen as the National Endowment for the Humanities's Jefferson Lecturer, one of the highest honors for American literature and the highest award in the humanities given by the federal government.
Brooks -- devoted to encouraging young people to write -- passed away on December 3, 2000 at the age of 83, at her Southside Chicago home. She is quoted as having stated that to create "bigness" you don't have to create an epic. "Bigness," said Brooks "can be found in a little haiku, five syllables, seven syllables." A great example of this philosophy can be seen in her famous poem "We Real Cool".
She was just amazing! First, I can't believe I did not comment earlier! I did study her a bit in school and independently, and I am still amazed to this day. Imagine...
Brooks published her first poem in a children's magazine at the age of thirteen. When Brooks was sixteen years old, she had compiled a portfolio of around seventy-five published poems. Her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, published in 1945 by Harper and Row, brought her instant critical acclaim.
What an accomplishment for such a young lady and young African American lady...just wow!
I believe there are literary awards in her honor as well. I really enjoyed this bio Ms Jacquii and Thank You so much for posting these. Tis nice to always take a moment to read about the "Shoulders of the giants of whom we have stood, to see far."
Yes! Thanx for your amazing commentary MS KIM - You know I read the BlackStone Rangers and was just utterly amazed by Brooks' first stanza:
Quote:
There they are.
Thirty at the corner.
Black, raw, ready.
Sores in the city
that do not want to heal.
That really describes her poetry as well - "Black, raw, ready, real, etc..." And her poetry was always a testimony of sorts as to what was going on in her streets! An amazing Artiste is Ms Brooks and I was ecstatic to put together this biography. Glad you like
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She was just amazing! First, I can't believe I did not comment earlier! I did study her a bit in school and independently, and I am still amazed to this day. Imagine...
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