An Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks (February 2, 1980)

On February 1, 1980 poet Gwendolyn Brooks - poet laureate of the state of Illinois and the first Black author to win the Pulitzer prize - gave a reading at a Florida Junior College event sponsored by the school's women's literary magazine, Kalliope. The following day Kalliope staff sat down with Brooks for a wide ranging interview covering how Brooks viewed herself as an author, her influences, the responsibility of Black poets, and colorism. After a brief interruption in the recording due to the flipping of the cassette tape, the last fifteen minutes conclude with a discussion of Nikki Giovanni and a reading by Brooks of her poem "Kitchenette Building."
The written version of this interview appeared in the Spring/Summer 1980 edition of Kalliope and can be viewed at fscj.digital.f...
Copyright 1980 Florida State College at Jacksonville