Poet Gwendolyn Brooks's writings explore the discrepancies between appearance and morality, between good and evil. Her images are often ironic and coy; her work is distinctly African American. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950, the first time an African American writer received the award. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Gwendolyn Brooks published her first poem at age 13. By 1941 she had moved to Chicago and began studying at the South Side Community Art Center. In the 1960s she turned to teaching until 1971. More recently, she became Illinois Poet Laureate and an honorary consultant in American literature to the Library of Congress. Her publications include Street in Bronzeville (1945), Annie Allen (1950), Maud Martha (1953), In the Mecca (1968), and Report from Part One (1971).

Further Reading:

Brooks, Gwendolyn. Report from Part Two. Chicago, Third World Press, 1990.

Kent, George E. A Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Lexington, Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky, 1990.