Gwendolyn Bennett

POET/ARTIST/WRITER/TEACHER

Gwendolyn Bennett, a teacher, artist, and writer, was born in Giddings, Texas in 1902. She never published her collected work, but her poems, short stories, and nonfiction columns appeared in literary journals, among them Opportunity, Fire!! and Palms. Bennett was connected to the Harlem Renaissance and a dedicated supporter of African American writers and artists through support groups, community centers, and schools. She died in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1981.

Bennett, the daughter of teachers, grew up on a Nevada Indian reservation and in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn, N.Y. She attended Columbia University and Pratt Institute, then studied art in Paris (1925–26). She wrote articles and created covers for The Crisis and Opportunity magazines. Her close friendships with fellow Harlem-based writers resulted in her becoming an Opportunity editor and writing its popular literary news column (1926–28). Twice widowed, Bennett taught and lived away from New York for long periods. She was suspended from directing the Harlem Community Art Center in 1941 because of suspected communist associations. *

Most of Bennett’s published work, including two short stories, appeared in 1923–28, and though it is often anthologized, her work has not been collected. Her ballads, odes, sonnets, and protest poetry are notable for their visual imagery; her best-known poem is the sensual “To a Dark Girl.”*

• Read her Poems