Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brookswas an American poet and teacher. She was the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950, for her second collection, Annie Allen...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth7 June 1917
CityTopeka, KS
CountryUnited States of America
Gwendolyn Brooks quotes about
leadership desire fit
Do not desire to fit in. Desire to oblige yourselves to lead.
wheat aging
As you get older, you find that often the wheat, disentangling itself from the chaff, comes out to meet you.
moments learning-to-love
She was learning to love moments. To love moments for themselves.
crush clay language
I like the concentration, the crush; I like working with language, as others like working with clay, or notes.
clumsiness talkers
I am a writer perhaps because I am not a talker.
race ideas black
I don't like the idea of the black race being diluted out of existence. I like the idea of all of us being here.
jewels pearls milk
With melted opals for my milk, Pearl-leaf for my cracker.
poetry-is
The poetry is myself.
holes notes ifs
I shall create! If not a note, a hole./If not an overture, a desecration.
being-yourself important poet
Be yourself. Don't imitate other poets. You are as important as they are.
mississippi
Nothing could stop Mississippi.
reporters
I've always thought of myself as a reporter.
live-in-the-moment lasts defense
My last defense / Is the present tense.
poetry attention lines
I tell poets that when a line just floats into your head, don't pay attention 'cause it probably has floated into somebody else's head.