Gwendolyn Brooks the First African American to win a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

Illinois Poet Laureate Website from The Library of Congress

Library of Congress Poet Laureate Timeline 1990-2005

Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGITAL ID:  (scan from color copy photo in Publishing Office) ppmsca 02988 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.02988

Yusef

Komunyakaa

1994 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Poetry

Toni Morrison

(b. Feb. 18, 1931)

Toni Morrison writes of the African-American experience often focusing on the relationship between the individual and society. While teaching at Howard University, she began her budding career. Her first novel, "The Bluest Eye," was published in 1970 and she quickly became known as a promising writer. "Beloved," published in 1987, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.