American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (1985) Winner
Sonia Sanchez
ソニア・サンチェス
Sonia Sanchez
Pen Names:
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1934-09-09 （Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Nation of Islam
- Residence History
- Harlem, New York City → Philadelphia, Pennsylvania → San Francisco, California
Career
- Occupations
- poet, educator, columnist, playwright, essayist
- Active Years
- 1955-
- Affiliations
- The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective, Temple University (Laura Carnell Chair, Poet-in-Residence), Nation of Islam (former affiliation)
- Memberships
- The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective
- Influenced By
- Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, Malcolm X (influence)
- Influenced
- Krista Franklin, Subsequent generations of African-American poets
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter College | Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) | Political Science | BA | 1951-1955 | United States |
| New York University | — | — | — | — | United States |
Hunter College
Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)
/ Political Science
Degree:
BA
Period:
1951-1955
Year of Graduation:
1955
Country:
United States
Earned BA; later pursued postgraduate studies at NYU.
New York University
Country:
United States
Postgraduate studies; worked with Louise Bogan and formed a writers' workshop.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Robert Frost Medal | — | — | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 2018 | Wallace Stevens Award | — | — | Academy of American Poets | 受賞 |
| 2021 | Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize | — | — | The Gish Prize organization | 受賞 |
| 2022 | Edward MacDowell Medal | — | — | The MacDowell Colony | 受賞 |
| 2009 | Robert Creeley Award | — | — | Robert Creeley Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1985 | American Book Award | Homegirls and Handgrenades | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1993 | Pew Fellowship in the Arts | — | — | The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage | 受賞 |
| 2004 | Harper Lee Award | — | — | Alabama Writers' Forum | 受賞 |
| 2019 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (Lifetime Achievement) | — | Lifetime Achievement | Cleveland Foundation | 受賞 |
Robert Frost Medal
2001
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
Wallace Stevens Award
2018
Organization:
Academy of American Poets
Result:
受賞
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
2021
Organization:
The Gish Prize organization
Result:
受賞
Edward MacDowell Medal
2022
Organization:
The MacDowell Colony
Result:
受賞
Robert Creeley Award
2009
Organization:
Robert Creeley Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Book Award
1985
Work:
Homegirls and Handgrenades
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Pew Fellowship in the Arts
1993
Organization:
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Result:
受賞
Harper Lee Award
2004
Organization:
Alabama Writers' Forum
Result:
受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (Lifetime Achievement)
2019
Category:
Lifetime Achievement
Organization:
Cleveland Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 84 (2019) Lifetime Achievement Award
Jackson Poetry Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 16 (2022) Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
1 appearances
Works
Major Works
Homecoming
1969 Poetry collectionHer debut collection that blends blues rhythms and explores Black identity, emphasizing sound and vernacular.
Black identityblues influencecommunity
We a BaddDDD People
1970 Poetry collectionUses experimental punctuation and Black vernacular to depict urban life and Black nationalism.
urban lifeBlack nationalismvernacular speech
I've Been a Woman
1978 Poetry (new and selected)Collection emphasizing womanhood and motherhood, highlighting the perspective of Black women.
motherhoodwomanhoodBlack feminism
Does Your House Have Lions?
1997 Poetry collectionIncludes an epic account of her brother's struggle with AIDS and other emotionally charged poems.
familyillness and lossremembrance
Bibliography
- Homecoming (1969)
- We a BaddDDD People (1970)
- Love Poems (1973)
- A Blues Book for a Blue Black Magic Woman (1974)
- Homegirls and Handgrenades (1985)
- Under a Soprano Sky (1987)
- Does Your House Have Lions? (1997)
- Morning Haiku (2010)
- Collected Poems (2021)
Adaptations
- BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez (documentary film, 2015)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Oral and sonic poetry influenced by blues and jazz rhythmsExperimental punctuation, spelling, and spacingPerformance-focused, read-aloud oriented style
- Recurring Motifs
- Black identity and pridemotherhood and familycommunity and liberation
Health
-
stutter (childhood)幼少期（祖母の死後に悪化）Her stutter led her to read more and focus on sound, influencing her sonic approach to poetry.
Legacy
Sonia Sanchez is a leading figure of the Black Arts Movement who amplified the voice of Black women through poetry and teaching; her formal experiments and performances have had a lasting impact on American poetry.
Academic Societies
- Academy of American Poets (associated)
Archives
- Sonia Sanchez Collection at Boston University
In Popular Culture
- Documentary film "BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez" (2015)
- Participation in the "Freedom's Sisters" mobile exhibition
Quotes
-
I now term myself an "ordained stutterer."
Source: Interviews/biographical sources
Trivia
- Born Wilsonia Benita Driver.
- Served as Philadelphia's first Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014.
- Had one daughter with first husband Albert Sanchez and twin sons with Etheridge Knight; both marriages ended in divorce.
- Author of children's books, plays, essays, and numerous poetry collections.