Label
Born June 7, 1917, in Topeka, KS
Died December 3, 2000, in Chicago, IL
Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her book Annie Allen. She was the first Black writer to win the prestigious award. Considered “the Bard of Bronzeville,” she was also poet laureate of Illinois for 16 years and poetry consultant to the Library of Congress. Among her best-known works are her poetry collections A Street in Bronzeville (1945) and In the Mecca (1968), and her novel Maud Martha (1953). Her autobiography, Report from Part One, was published in 1972. Brooks is widely regarded as one of the most influential poets of the 20th century.