Famous Black Female Poets

Since the end of slavery, African American men and women have contributed an increasingly greater number of works to the collection of American literature. The 20th century was of particular note for poets, as many famous black female poets took to the stage and created works representative of their cultural heritage.

Foremost among the famous black female poets was Gwendolyn Brooks, who started writing poems at an early age. Her first poem to be published was printed in a children's magazine when she was thirteen. From then on, Brooks continued to write poetry using a variety of styles, including many traditional styles, like the sonnet. Though she received critical praise and attention for her first book of  poetry, A Street in Bronzeville, Brooks was even more successful after her second book of poetry, Annie Allen, was published. Containing a number of poems, including a mock heroic poem dubbed The Anniad, Annie Allen won Brooks the Pulitzer Prize. This made her the first African American to win the prestigious award. Her writing career and subsequent teaching career continued along a path of success, culminating in her position as the national Poet Laureate in 1985.

A more recent voice in the world of famous black female poets, Sapphire has courted controversy while staying on the cutting edge of modern performance poetry. Her topics are perhaps even more hard hitting and controversial than those in beat poetry - dealing with issues like incest, rape, illiteracy, sexual violence, and racism. In actuality, Sapphire performed her poetry in poetry slams, performance poetry competitions that often rely as much on vocal style and rhythm as the actual language used. Sapphire gained notoriety after publishing her first collection of poems in the book American Dreams. Later, she also had success with the fictional novella Push, which explored the life of a teen girl growing up in Harlem who experiences rape, teen pregnancy, and extreme poverty, among other things.

Many famous black female poets discuss issues the public may find objectionable or horrifying, but their stories and poems are a necessary to make people aware of the plight of others. Though sometimes shocking, a lot can be learned from poets like Sapphire or Gwendolyn Brooks.