THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks
June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000
“I think it’s wonderful that there is a women’s movement – black women are women too.”
Poet, Author, Educator. First African-American awarded a Pulitzer Prize, May 1, 1950. Appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois, 1968. Named the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress for the 1985–86 term. First African-American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1976.
Photo. Gwendolyn poses with her first book of poems, A Street in Bronzeville.
More About Gwendolyn:
- The Gwendolyn Brooks website, Brooks Permissions: Continuing The Relevance of Gwendolyn Brooks into the 21st Century… And Beyond!!
- Lincoln Academy of Illinois interviews Gwendolyn Brooks, 1997.
- Interview of Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks recorded as part of the National Portrait Gallery’s Living Self-Portrait Series, February 11, 1996.
- Alan Jabbour, director of the Library of Congress’ American Folklore division, interviews Gwendolyn Brooks, 1986.
- Henry Lyman talks about his 1980 meeting with Gwendolyn Brooks and includes a clip from his conversation, NPR
- An Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks, Florida Junior College, February 2, 1980
- The Gwendolyn Brooks Papers
- Wikipedia page