(June 7, 1917-December 3, 2000)
Born in Topeka, Kansas
Raised in Chicago
Wrote poetry collections 'A Street in Bronzeville' (1945), 'Annie Allen' (1949), 'Bronzeville Boys and Girls' (1956), 'The Bean Eaters' (1960), 'In the Mecca' (1968), 'Report From Part One' (1972), 'Primer for Blacks' (1987), 'Children Coming Home' (1991) and 'In Montgomery' (2003)
Wrote novel 'Maud Martha' (1953)
Poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (1985)
Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities (1994)

Her parents forbade her from playing with other children on her street.
She kept to herself in high school.
Her earlier poetry has been criticized for not being concerned enough with social and racial issues.
On the other hand, her later work has been labeled too 'political.'
'We Real Cool,' a poem about high school dropouts, has ironically become a classroom staple.

She published her first poem at age 13.
Langston Hughes encouraged her writing when she was a teenager.
She was the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize.
She became a key figure in the Black Arts movement in 1967.
She switched from major publishing houses in favor of smaller presses.
She held workshops and contests for inner-city children.
Rita Dove said her poems 'weren't afraid to take the language and revamp it, twist it and energize it.'

Credit: Georgina

http://aia.li/20166

E-mail Link to Friend | Report updates or corrections for this profile

For 2010, as of last week, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
For 2009, Out of 33 Votes: 60.61% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 45.16% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 155 Votes: 45.16% Annoying

• Ebony Magazine's 100 Most Fascinating Black Women of the 20th Century [March 1999]
• Georgina/Devil Doll's Profiles [Series 2]
• I Died in 2000 (Ranked: 83)
• Poet.org's Top 20 Poets [Spring 2006] (Ranked: 13)
• Poets
• Poets.org's Top 20 Poets [Spring 2007] (Ranked: 6)
• Profiles 20001-20250 (Ranked: 20166)
• Teachers