16 pages • 32 minutes read
Gwendolyn BrooksA Sunset of the City
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1963A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“kitchenette building” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1963)
This poem centers on key themes in Brooks’s canon. Here, the speaker of the poem is a Black woman in poverty, living in an urban house. In this poem, the kitchenette of a house symbolizes the experiences of the woman, like the city does in “A Sunset of the City.” The poem asks about the possibility of fulfilling a dream deferred, and it echoes notable works by Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry, also artists associated with the Black Arts Movement.
“Primer for Blacks” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1980)
A poem from later in Brooks’s career, this poem is more explicit in describing Brooks’s experience as a Black woman living in Chicago and advocates for a Black collective.
“Black Art” by Amiri Baraka (1965)
This controversial poem by Baraka is credited as the inspiration for the Black Arts Movement; Baraka emphatically expresses his desire for Black artists to start creating their own art outside of white traditions and expectations. Baraka himself, cited as the founder of the movement, contributed many works, including poems and plays, to the movement.
“A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde (1984)
Like Brooks, Lorde’s poem expresses her experiences as a Black woman. This poem celebrates the poet’s Blackness and her femininity. Lorde, like Brooks, was associated with the Black Arts Movement.
“Walking Down Park” by Nikki Giovanni (1996)
Giovanni’s poem, like Brooks’s “A Sunset of the City,” uses the image of a city to comment upon life as a Black woman. Giovanni was also associated with the Black Arts Movement.
Further Literary Resources
Gwendolyn Brooks: Poetry and the Heroic Voice by D. H. Melhem (1986)
D. H. Melhem, a friend of Brooks, is also a poet and critic. The first comprehensive study of Brooks, this book traces the development of Brook’s poetry; examines the different context for her poetry; and includes Brooks’s correspondences with her editor, other writers, and critics.
A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks by Angela Jackson (2018)
This biography by Chicago writer Angela Jackson uses previously unpublished documents and intimate interviews to trace Brooks’s life and career. Jackson uses 43 poems as her guide through Brooks’s life.
“The Voice of Gwendolyn Brooks” by Victoria F. Harris (1979)
Harris considers Brooks’s poems in their literary context. In particular, Harris analyzes how Brooks’s poems reflect her engagement with the Black Arts Movement.
“Gwendolyn Brooks, Whose Poetry Told of Being Black in America, Dies at 83” by Mel Watkins (2000)
This memorial considers Brooks’s life and legacy upon her death in 2000.
Gwendolyn Brooks by Harold Bloom (2000)
This collection of critical essays looks at Brooks’s poetry through a variety of lenses, including feminist, biographical, literary, and cultural. Topics include the role of violence and rage in her poetry, the experiences of Black women, and her engagement with literary conventions and traditions.
Conversations with Gwendolyn Brooks edited by Gloria Wade Gayles (2003)
Spanning three decades, these interviews cover Brooks’s opinion and perspective on a variety of perspectives. These interviews were conducted in a variety of places, including radio recording studios, university classrooms, the National Endowment for the Humanities celebration, and the poet’s living room. Her interviewers include Studs Terkel, poet Haki Madhubuti, and poet and future biographer D. H. Melhem.
Listen to Poem
Gwendolyn Brooks reads “A Sunset of the City” and other poems from the Library of Congress (1961)
Brooks reads a selection of her own poetry, including “A Sunset of the City.”
Related Titles
By Gwendolyn Brooks
