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This prolific poet was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1917.
From the time she was a child Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks always knew
she had a way with words. As a youngster she was always teased by the
kids in her school for talking to much and scolded at home from her
parents for sassing back too much. So it was no shock when she was one
of the first people to graduate from college and with honors. While
in college Brooks became very socially aware and politically active
and as soon as she graduated in 1936 she joined the NAACP(National Association
of Advancement for Colored People ) and became their publicity director.
While at the NAACP she decided to write one of her first book of poems, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), was praised by critics as a clear and moving evocation of life in an urban black neighborhood. Gaining critical acclaim for her debut four years later she released For Annie Allen (1949), Brooks was awarded the 1950 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her second endeavor. Over the years Brooks has written over 15 books bringing in each the sadness, love, shame, and joy of a community to life. Her wealth of words has not gone unnoticed she has been received many accolades for her effort including; In 1985 she was appointed poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, and in 1988 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Her many awards include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award (1946) and a National Endowment for the Arts Senior Fellowship for Literature (1989),a lifetime achievement award. In 1990 Brooks became the first American to receive the Society for Literature Award from the University of Thessaloniki in Athens, Greece. She also received the National Book Foundation's medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1994. |
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