Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born June 7, 1917, and died December 3, 2000. She was an American poet, author, and teacher. Brooks is viewed through the lens of everyday people in her community. She celebrated the struggles of everyday people.
In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize. She received this award for her book, Annie Allen. The book explores how a young Black girl grows into a woman through poetry.
By 16, she had written and published 75 poems. At 17, she began submitting her work to “Lights and Shadows.” This was a poetry column in the Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper. Many of her poems were published while she was a student at Wilson Junior College. Her style included traditional ballads, sonnets, and poems using blues rhythms in free verse. In her early years, she received praise and encouragement from James Weldon Johnson, Richard Wright, and Langston Hughes. When she was just 16, James Weldon Johnson provided her with the first critique of her poems.
Brooks published her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), with Harper & Brothers. After a strong show of support from the publisher, and author Richard Wright said to the editors who solicited his opinion on Brooks’ work:
“There is no self-pity here, not a striving for effects. Brooks takes hold of reality as it is and renders it faithfully. She quickly catches the pathos of petty destinies. She hears the whimper of the wounded. She notices the tiny accidents that plague the lives of the desperately poor. She understands the problem of color prejudice among Negroes. [15]“
Brooks was also the first black woman to serve as the Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress.
Gwendolyn E. Brooks started writing poetry at a young age. She leaves a rich history as a teacher, poet, author, and so much more.
Resource : (Wikimedia Commons) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooksm?
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