On Sunday, December 3, 2000 one of poetry's greatest ladies made her transition from this life at the seasoned age of 84. Gwendolyn Brooks who was the first African-American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize, started writing poetry as an 11-year-old child and went on to pen over 22 books including poetry, essays, reviews, children's books and a novel. Her poetry defined and spoke to the conscious about racial injustice, and inequality. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for her book-length poem "Annie Allen" and named the Poet Laureate of Illinois, by Gov. Otto Kerner in 1968, Brooks will be truly missed.
Writers possess a gift that allows them live beyond their time and well into the times of others. Words are powerful and can travel the distance of time and space like no other force known to mankind.
Chicago-based Third World Press will publish Gwendolyn Brooks' most recent work, "In Birmingham," in 2001. |