Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks | |
|---|---|
Commemorative postage stamp issued by the USPS in 2012 | |
| Born | Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks June 7, 1917 Topeka, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | December 3, 2000 (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Education | Kennedy-King College |
| Period | 1930–2000 |
| Notable works | A Street in Bronzeville, Annie Allen, Winnie |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1950) Robert Frost Medal (1989) National Medal of Arts (1995) |
| Spouse |
Henry Lowington Blakely, Jr.
(m. 1939; died 1996) |
| Children | 2, including Nora Brooks Blakely |
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.
Throughout her prolific writing career, Brooks received many more honors. A lifelong resident of Chicago, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968, a position she held until her death 32 years later. She was also named the U.S. Poet Laureate for the 1985–86 term. In 1976, she became the first African-American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.