The Smithsonian Institution’s Central Smithsonian Institution Administrator Marc Pachter interviews Gwendolyn Brooks as part of the National Portrait Gallery’s education series Living Self-Portraits. As a poet and novelist, Gwendolyn Brooks transformed American poetry between the 1940’s and 1990’s. Her successes include a Guggenheim Award, a National Institute of Arts and letters Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize, and a Eunice Tietjens Award from Poetry Magazine. Pachter and Brooks paint a portrait of her incredible life and poetic drive, highlighting key moments that shaped and developed her writing. Beginning with recounts of her youth and early love for poetry, Brooks describes how poetry as the foundation for who she is, clearly stating she has, will have, and will always write poetry. This conversation examines the growth and influences that occurred throughout Brook’s life and how she became of the greatest contributors to American poetry of the 20th century. Interview includes Brooks' comments on her young life, parents, NAACP, marriage, Pulitzer Prize, Langston Hughes, multiple works of prose, and more.
National Portrait Gallery, Great Hall, February 11, 1996.
Interview includes Brooks' comments on her young life, parents, NAACP, marriage, Pulitzer Prize, Langston Hughes, multiple works of prose, and more.
Full transcript available upon request from NPGResearch@si.edu. Please include the Object Number in your request. Please allow 3-5 business days for processing.