| Compiled by Peter Armenti, Digital Reference Specialist
On May 6, 1985, Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin
announced the appointment of Gwendolyn Brooks as the 29th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Brooks, the first African American author to win the Pulitzer Prize, is perhaps best known for her lyrical portraits of African American urban life.
Brooks served two terms as poet laureate, giving her final reading on May 5, 1986. This guide compiles
links to resources on Gwendolyn Brooks throughout the Library
of Congress Web site, as well as links to external Web sites
that include features on her life or selections
of her work. To suggest additions to this guide, please contact the Digital Reference Section.
Library of Congress Web Site
•Articles and Features
•Print Resources
External
Web Sites
•Biographical Information, Poetry
•Interviews, Articles, and Conversations
•Audio Recordings
•Videos
•Criticism
•Lesson Plans, Classroom Instruction
•Gwendolyn Brooks in the News
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Articles and Features
"Gwendolyn Brooks Is Named as Next Library Poetry Consultant" (PDF, 662 KB)
Library of Congress Information Bulletin, May 20, 1985
Living Legends Award Citation, April 2000
Poetry Broadside: "We Real Cool"
Print Resources
Works by Gwendolyn Brooks in the Library of Congress online
catalog can be found under the following author heading:
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000
Works about Gwendolyn Brooks can be found in the Library of
Congress online catalog under
the following subject headings:
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Bibliography.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Correspondence.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Criticism and interpretation.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Influence.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Interviews.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Juvenile literature.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Literary collections.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000. Maud Martha.
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 1917-2000--Political and social views.
(Some links open RealAudio files. Download a free version of RealPlayer software.)
Biographical Information, Poetry
Academy of American Poets
Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, samples of her poetry,
and links to related Web sites.
Finding Aid to the Gwendolyn Brooks Papers, 1917-2000, bulk 1950-1989
The Bancroft Library's finding aid includes a biography of Brooks and bibliography of primary and secondary sources.
Gale
Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks reprinted from Gale's Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, Book III.
Illinois Poet Laureate Web Site
Biography of Brooks and selected poems.
Pearson Education, Inc.
Biography of Brooks that supplements X.J. Kennedy's and Dana Gioia's print anthology Literature.
Poetry Foundation
Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, bibliography of her writings, and more than 20 poems.
Interviews, Articles, and Conversations
"Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet who Called Out to Black People Everywhere"
The Guardian, December 9, 2000.
"An Evening with Gwendolyn Brooks"
Interviewed by B. Denise Hawkins. Reprinted from Black Issues in Higher Education 11, no. 18 (November 3, 1994): 16, 20-1.
"A Conversation with Gwendolyn Brooks"
Interviewed by Steven Cape, The Artful Dodge, 1979.
Gwendolyn Brooks on BNET
A collection of critical and popular articles on Gwendolyn Brooks.
Audio Recordings
Radio Programs
Gwendolyn Brooks Captures Chicago 'Cool' (05:22)
All Things Considered, NPR, April 15, 2007
Gwendolyn Brooks' Indispensable Maud Martha (03:40)
You Must Read This, NPR, October 10, 2006
Gwendolyn Brooks (06:38)
Weekend Edition Saturday, NPR, December 9, 2000
Gwendolyn Brooks Dies (03:51)
Morning Edition, NPR, December 4, 2000
Gwendolyn Brooks (04:10)
All Things Considered, NPR, December 4, 2000
The Power of African American Women (30:07)
Recording from the Pacifica Radio Archives, 1985
Other Audio
The Poetry Foundation
Includes downloadable audio and podcasts by and about Gwendolyn Brooks
Brooks Reads "We Real Cool"
Academy of American Poets
Videos
Literature and Life: The Givens Collection
This PBS site includes a video of Professor Sandy Adell dicussing Gwendolyn Brooks and Brooks reading some of her works
"We Real Cool"
Read and discussed as part of the Favorite Poem Project
Criticism
(Some links open PDF files. Download a free version of the Adobe Reader.)
Bibliography - Miller F. Whittaker Library, South Carolina State University (PDF, 288 KB)
Extensive bibliography of works by and about Brooks created in 2004
BNET
Collection of critical and popular articles on Gwendolyn Brooks
eNotes.com
Critical information on Brooks from Gale's Contemporary Literary Criticism series
Lemon Hound
A critical article by Marilyn Hacker, "The Sonnet as a Wild Woman's Blues: On Gwendolyn Brooks' 'The Rites for Cousin Vit' " and five questions for Marilyn Hacker
Modern American Poetry
Criticism of individual poems, interviews with Brooks, and
information about her life and career
VG: Voices from the Gaps
Biography and references to scholarly criticism on Brooks' work
Lesson Plans, Classroom Instruction
Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet, Novelist, Wife, Mother, and Teacher
Lesson Plan from TeacherLINK Web site
Heath Online Instructor's Guide
Web page that helps teachers introduce Brooks' work into the classroom. Includes a selected bibliography
The Impact of a Poem's Line Breaks: Enjambment and Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”
Lesson plan from EDSITEment Web site
Many Years Later: Responding to Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”
Lesson plan from ReadWriteThink Web site
Gwendolyn Brooks in the News
Google
News search on Gwendolyn Brooks
Blog entries on Gwendolyn Brooks, via Google Blog Search
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