Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Annie Allen" and one of the most celebrated African American poets. She was Poet Laureate for the state of Illinois, a National Women's Hall of Fame inductee, and a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts. She received fifty honorary degrees. Her other books include "a Street in Bronzeville, In the Mecca, The Bean Eaters, " and "Maud Martha".
