Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)

A selective list of online literary criticism on African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks, favoring signed scholarly articles and books, peer-reviewed sources, and web sites that adhere to the MLA Guidelines for Web Sites.

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introduction [all free]

"Gwendolyn Brooks." Introduction and biography, plus excerpts from influential critical commentary on these poems: We Real Cool; The Ballad of Rudolph Reed; Gay Chaps at the Bar. Also, an extended essay on "Gay Chaps at the Bar" by Susan Schweik; on "To the Diaspora"; another essay on "Gay Chaps at the Bar," by James Smethurst; on "De Witt Williams on his way to Lincoln Cemetery"; on "The Boy Died in My Alley." Also, interviews with Gwendolyn Brooks; about the Black Arts Movement; about World War II; about the sonnet; and Brooks's book jackets. Modern American Poetry (U of Illinois). Ed. James Sullivan.

"Gwendolyn Brooks." Encyclopedia-type introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks's themes, style, and techniques, includes a biography of Brooks and text for some of her most famous poems. For many of the poems, audio files of Brooks herself reading are available. Also, a bibliography of her books and stories, and a selected secondary bibliography. Poetry Foundation.

"Gwendolyn Brooks." Very brief introduction to Brooks. Also, "Groundbreaking Book: The Bean Eaters by Gwendolyn Brooks. Academy of American Poets.

"Brooks, H. D., and Rukeyser: Three Women Poets in the First Century of World Wars." By poet Marilyn Hacker. Academy of American Poets.

"An Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks." Conducted by George Stavros in 1969. Stavros questions Brooks about the meaning of some of her poems. Contemporary Literature 11, 1 (Winter, 1970).

"Gwendolyn Brooks." A profile of the poet, broadcast for the Voice of America, provides details about Gwendolyn Brooks's childhood, her early efforts to write poetry, and how her mother encouraged her. "She began writing when she was eleven years old. She mailed several poems to a community newspaper in Chicago to surprise her family. In a radio broadcast in 1961, Ms. Brooks said her mother urged her to develop her poetic skills: 'My mother took me to the library when I was about four or five. I enjoyed reading poetry and I tried to write it when I was about seven, at the time that I first tried to put rhymes together. And I have loved it ever since.'"

"Gwendolyn Brooks's Indispensable Maud Martha" by Asali Solomon. A brief article on Gwendolyn Brooks's 1953 novel, Maud Martha. From National Public Radio.

"The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks. Annotations of the poem for a class, Clemson Univ., AP English Lit, Summer 2000.

Melhem, D.H. "Gwendolyn Brooks." A discussion guide for students and teachers, from textbook publisher Heath.

A biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, from educational publisher the Gale/Cengage.

How to write about poetry, from educational publisher A.B. Longman, uses "The Bean Eaters" as an example of a poem to analyze.

"Personal papers of Pulitzer-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks join archives at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library." Press release, 11 Jan 2001.

Gwendolyn Brooks's New York Times obituary, 5 Dec. 2000.

literary criticism

Alexander, Elizabeth. "Meditations on "Mecca": Gwendolyn Brooks and the Responsibilities of the Black Poet." From poet Elizabeth Alerander's web site [free].

Baker, Houston A. On Gwendolyn Brooks's Blacks. Black American Literature Forum 24, 3 (Fall 1990) [subscription service].

Clarke, Cheryl. "The Loss of Lyric Space in Gwendolyn Brooks's 'In the Mecca.' Kenyon Review 1 (Winter 1995) [subscription service].

Cummings, Allison. "Public Subjects: Race and the Critical Reception of Gwendolyn Brooks, Erica Hunt, and Harryette Mullen." Frontiers 2005 [subscription service].

Debo, Annette. "Reflecting violence in the warpland: Gwendolyn Brooks's Riot." African American Review 39 (Spring-Summer 2005) [free].

Flynn, Richard. "The Kindergarten of New Consciousness": Gwendolyn Brooks and the Social Construction of Childhood. African American Review Fall 2000 [free].

Ford, Karen Jackson. "The Last Quatrain: Gwendolyn Brooks and the ends of ballads." On Brooks's mixed feelings about using the ballad form in her poems, in spite of its associations with populist folk tradition and African American culture in spirituals, gospel songs, and the blues. Twentieth Century Literature Fall 2010 [free].

Gery, John. "Subversive Parody in the Early Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks." South Central Review 16, 1 (Spring 1999) [first page of article only].

Hansell, William H. "Essences, Unifyings, and Black Militancy: Major Themes in Gwendolyn Brooks's Family Pictures and Beckonings." Black American Literature Forum 11, 2 (Summer 1977) [first page of article only].

Horvath, Brooke Kenton. "The Satisfactions of what's Difficult in Gwendolyn Brooks's Poetry." On Brooks's style. American Literature 62, 4 (Dec. 1990) [first page of article only].

Hughes, Gertrude Reif. "Making it Really New: Hilda Doolittle, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the Feminist Potential of Modern Poetry." American Quarterly 42, 3 (Sept. 1990) [first page of article only].

Hughes, Sheila Hassell. "A prophet overheard: a juxtapositional reading of Gwendolyn Brooks's 'In the Mecca.'" Hassell contends, "Brooks never wrote directly or explicitly for a white audience. She was always concerned to represent, to speak to, and to sanctify Black life as she knew it--most especially in the Bronzeville section of Chicago. But clearly, when she adopted the Black Arts credo that 'true Black writers speak as blacks, about blacks, and to blacks' (Report 195), she heightened awareness of her social location and political position, rhetorically situating herself and her readers in a new way." African American Review Summer 2004 [free].

Jimoh, A. Yemisi. "Double Consciousness, Modernism, and Womanist Themes in Gwendolyn Brooks's 'The Anniad.'" Melus 7 (Fall 1998) [first part of article only].

Jimoh, A. Yemisi. "Gwendolyn Brooks." Literary Encyclopedia. Eds. Robert Clark, Emory Elliott, Janet Todd. A substantial introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks, from a database that provides signed literary criticism by experts in their field, and is available to individuals for a reasonably-priced subscription [subscription service].

Lowney, John. "'A Material Collapse That Is Construction': History and Counter-Memory in Gwendolyn Brooks's 'In the Mecca.'" On the Mecca building on Chicago's South Side and its symbolism. MELUS 23, 3 (Autumn 1998) [first half of article only].

Miller, R. Baxter. "'Define . . . the Whirlwind': Gwendolyn Brooks's Epic Sign for a Generation." On the themes and structure of "In the Mecca." In Black American Poets Between Worlds, 1940–1960 [subscription service].

Mootry, Maria K. "'Chocolate Mabbie' and 'Pearl May Lee': Gwendolyn Brooks and the Ballad Tradition." CLA Journal 30, 3 (March 1987) [subscription service].

Ortega, Kirsten Bartholomew. "The Black Flaneuse: Gwendolyn Brooks's 'In the Mecca'". Journal of Modern Literature 30, 4 (Summer 2007) [first page and summary].

Shaw, Harry B. A review of Stephen Caldwell Wright's book, On Gwendolyn Brooks: Reliant Contemplation. African American Review Fall 1998 [free].

Sullivan, James D. "Killing John Cabot and publishing black: Gwendolyn Brooks's Riot." Sullivan analyzes the effect of Gwendolyn Brooks's decision, at the heights of her fame, to publish only with Black publishers. African American Review Winter 2002 [free].

Tate, Claudia. "Anger So Flat: Gwendolyn's Brooks's Annie Allen." In A Life Distilled: Gwendolyn Brooks, Her Poetry and Fiction [subscription service].

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