File:Gwendolyn_Brooks_ACME_1950.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 7 June 1917
- Died
- 3 December 2000
- Works
- 85
Top works
- Prentice Hall Literature -- Platinum
- Black steel
- We real cool
- The wall
- Prentice Hall Literature--Florida--Language and Literacy
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks , ( 1917-06-07 ) June 7, 1917, Topeka, Kansas , U.S.
- Died
- December 3, 2000 (2000-12-03) (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. ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1939 ; died 1996 )
- Children
- 2, including Nora Brooks Blakely
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Gwendolyn
- Family name
- Brooks
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Topeka
- Place of death
- Chicago
- Occupation
- teacher
- Employer
- NAACP
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Image
- Gwendolyn Brooks.jpg
- Work location
- Chicago
Show 12 more facts
- date of birth
- 1917-06-07
- date of death
- 2000-12-03
- Commons category
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- cause of death
- cancer
- influenced by
- Langston Hughes
- manner of death
- natural causes
- member of
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- start of work period
- 1930-00-00
- writing language
- English language
- significant person
- James Weldon Johnson
- has works in the collection
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gwendolyn Brooks” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.