GWENDOLYN BROOKS
Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7, 1917 in the town of Topeka, Kansas. Poet Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago with her family at a young age.
She began writing and publishing as a teenager, published her first poem in a children's magazine at age 13. By 16, she had published approximately 75 poems. She began submitting her work to the Chicago Defender, a leading African American newspaper. Her work included ballads, sonnets and free verse.
She eventually achieved national fame for her 1945 collection A Street in Bronzeville.
In 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her for her 1949 book 'Annie Allen.'.
She died in her Chicago home on December 3, 2000. She is buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.
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