1917-2000

 

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born June 17, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas. She was a well known American poet and novelist. She was the leading poet of the post World War II era and was also the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize in for her poetry collection Annie Allen, in 1950. She moved to Chicago when she was an infant and lived there until her death on December 3, 2000.

Her literary career had an early start. At the age of four, Gwendolyn began giving dramatic recitals. She was educated through the Chicago Public School system and Wilson Junior College. By the age of 16, she had already published poetry in the Chicago Defender. Her first collection of poems A Street in Bronzeville was published in 1949, followed by Annie Allen in 1949.

Most of her poetry are mixtures of sonnets and ballads. Her poetry focuses on the issues of art, identity, race, gender, and the relation between literature and popular culture. Some of works are: The Bean Eaters, We Real Cool, The Wall, and Family Pictures. She has received much recognition and many awards and was truly one of the greatest poets of all time.