As part of a citywide celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks marking the one-hundredth anniversary of her birth, the Newberry will gather poets, scholars, historians, and archivists to discuss the historical context of Brooks’ groundbreaking first book of poems, A Street in Bronzeville. Published in in August 1945—the same month that World War II ended—the collection expresses the rich complexities of life on Chicago’s South Side within the larger fight for democracy both at home and abroad. When Richard Wright read the book in manuscript draft, he realized, “America needs a voice like hers.”

Presenters:
Anna Chen, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library
Camille T. Dungy, Poet
Liesl Olson, Director of Chicago Studies, Newberry Library
Quraysh Ali Lansana, Poet
Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian, City of Chicago
Rebirth Poetry Ensemble

Admission is free and open to the public; no registration required.

https://www.newberry.org/04052017-gwendolyn-brooks