# 4655 - 2012 First-Class Forever Stamp - 20th Century American Poets: Gwendolyn Brooks
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20th Century American Poet
Issue Date: April 21, 2012
City: Los Angeles, CA
Quantity: 2,000,000
Printed By: Ashton Potter
Printing Method: Offset
Perforations: Die cut 10 ¾ x 11
Color: multicolored
Birth Of Gwendolyn BrooksÂ
According to family stories, Brooksâ grandfather was a runaway slave who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Brooksâ family moved to Chicago when she was six weeks old and she would spend much of her life there.
Brooks began writing at an early age with her motherâs encouragement. Her mother often told her âYou are going to be the lady Paul Laurence Dunbar.â Brooks had her first poem published when she was just 13 in a childrenâs magazine. Within three years, she would write and publish about 75 more poems. When she was 17, Brooks began submitting her work to the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper. She received lots of positive encouragement from other notable writers of the time including James Weldon Johnson, Richard Wright, and Langston Hughes, all of whom she kept in contact with.
Under the encouragement of Richard Wright, Brooks published her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, in 1945. The book was an instant success, capturing life in Bronzeville, and earning Brooks her first Guggenheim Fellowship. She was also named one of the âTen Young Women of the Yearâ in Mademoiselle magazine.
Brooks published her second book, Annie Allen, in 1949. This too was popularly received and she received Poetry magazineâs Eunice Tietjens Prize as well as the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She was the first African American to ever win this award.
Click here to read some of Brooksâ work.
Â
20th Century American Poet
Issue Date: April 21, 2012
City: Los Angeles, CA
Quantity: 2,000,000
Printed By: Ashton Potter
Printing Method: Offset
Perforations: Die cut 10 ¾ x 11
Color: multicolored
Birth Of Gwendolyn BrooksÂ
According to family stories, Brooksâ grandfather was a runaway slave who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Brooksâ family moved to Chicago when she was six weeks old and she would spend much of her life there.
Brooks began writing at an early age with her motherâs encouragement. Her mother often told her âYou are going to be the lady Paul Laurence Dunbar.â Brooks had her first poem published when she was just 13 in a childrenâs magazine. Within three years, she would write and publish about 75 more poems. When she was 17, Brooks began submitting her work to the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper. She received lots of positive encouragement from other notable writers of the time including James Weldon Johnson, Richard Wright, and Langston Hughes, all of whom she kept in contact with.
Under the encouragement of Richard Wright, Brooks published her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, in 1945. The book was an instant success, capturing life in Bronzeville, and earning Brooks her first Guggenheim Fellowship. She was also named one of the âTen Young Women of the Yearâ in Mademoiselle magazine.
Brooks published her second book, Annie Allen, in 1949. This too was popularly received and she received Poetry magazineâs Eunice Tietjens Prize as well as the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She was the first African American to ever win this award.
Click here to read some of Brooksâ work.