Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) was a poet and author whose widely applauded work described the mid-20th century experiences and culture of the Black community in Chicago and beyond. She became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. And this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Our storyteller today was a poet and author whose widely applauded work described the mid-20th century experiences and culture of the Black community in Chicago and beyond. She became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize. This is the story of Gwendolyn Brooks.
Gwendolyn, or Gwen as she was often called, was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas, but she and her parents moved to Chicago when she was still a baby. Her mother was a classically trained pianist and a school teacher. Her father was a janitor. Gwen’s family was part of a massive migration. Hundreds of thousands of Black families moved up North to Illinois seeking a reprieve from oppression and segregation in the South.
That said, Chicago also was home to oppressive segregation laws. New Black families were forced to stay on the South Side of the city. From a young age, Gwen knew she wanted to be a poet. She was encouraged by her family’s love of books. By the time she was 13, her first poem was published in American Childhood Magazine. By 17, Gwen was regularly writing poetry for the Chicago Defender, a newspaper known in Black communities across the country for its anti-lynching editorials.
Gwen went to community college and worked for the NAACP before deciding to focus on her poetry full time. In her work, Gwen wrote about the experiences of poor Black folks living in urban centers. Her first poetry collection, A Street in Bronzeville, was published in 1945. Four years later, in 1949, she published a poetry collection called Annie Allen.
The collection details the life of the title character, Annie, a young Black girl growing into womanhood on Chicago’s South Side. The book also contains a 43-stanza epic poem called The Anniad, a play on the Greek poem “The Aeneid.”
In 1950, Gwen won the Pulitzer prize for Annie Allen. She later recalled in an interview that she heard the news while sitting in her increasingly darkening living room, as night was starting to fall outside. Despite having written two critically acclaimed poetry collections, money was scarce and Gwen hadn’t had enough money to pay her electric bill.
Reporters flooded to her house the next day. Gwen dreaded the moment they would plug in their cameras, only for nothing to work. But the cameras worked. Someone had secretly paid Gwen’s electric bill.
This mysterious benefactor could not have helped a deserving recipient. Gwen was very generous. She used the prize money from her Pulitzer to fund poetry prizes to encourage young poets. She regularly gave money away to friends and associates in need.
In 1953, Gwen published what would be her only novel, Maud Martha. In it, Gwen depicts the title character’s life as Maud Martha experiences racism from white people and colorism from lighter-skinned Black folks. The story echoes Gwen’s own experience.
Gwen did not shrink away from writing about politically charged topics. In fact, especially towards the end of her career she leaned into polarizing topics. She sought to create work with real meaning for people.
By the 1960’s, Gwen was a beloved and respected poet, part of the country’s literary elite. She hosted regular meetups and parties where some of the greatest Black cultural contributors of the era gathered to exchange ideas.
Gwen also began teaching, helping to spread understanding of the written word.
Gwen was committed to supporting Black literature and culture. As a result, she left Harper & Row and published most of her later works with a smaller, Black-owned publishing company throughout the 1970s.
At 68 years old, Gwen became the poetry consultant for the Library of Congress, a position now known as the Poet Laureate. She was the first Black woman to do so. As part of the job, she toured local schools, colleges, prisons, and hospitals to encourage a love of poetry and literature. During that period, Gwen also finalized a two-part autobiography.
Gwendolyn Brooks passed away on December 3rd, 2000. She was 83 years old. Over the course of her life, she received more than 70 honorary degrees from universities across the country.
Gwendolyn’s realistic portrayal of life for Black folks serves as a vivid snapshot of Black culture in the 50’s and 60’s. Her humility and generosity left a mark on everyone she met. Her mentorship and encouragement of younger poets helped to ensure a diverse legacy of art would continue long after her death.
All month, we’re talking about storytellers.
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