Gwendolyn Brooks
(1917–2000)
Gwendolyn Brooks was awarded one of the most distinguished prizes in the United States, the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, when she was thirty-three years old. She was the first African American author to win that prize. However, Brooks went on to win many other prizes during her long career as a poet and author. She once wrote that most people like neat, clear answers; but she turned her attention to the aspects of life that were usually ignored by others and wrote of the ways ordinary African Americans lived in the city.
Later in her life, Brooks used her influence to encourage African American writers by assisting new African American publishing companies. She went on to become Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress, the first African American woman to hold that post. She visited schools, universities, hospitals, and prisons to read poetry and to encourage poets. By the time of her death, Brooks had received approximately fifty honorary degrees and was known internationally.
