To commemorate the centenary of iconic poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917 – 2000), A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks was published in 2017.

The author of this biography, Angela Jackson (herself a poet as well as a playwright and novelist) was granted unprecedented access to Brooks’s family and personal papers. She provides new perspectives on the woman who would be the first Black American writer to receive a Pulitzer prize. Brooks won the award for her 1949 poetry collection, Annie Allen.

At the time, Brooks already had a young son, Hank. About a year and a half later her daughter Nora was born. Read More→