BrooksDay 2026
Featured writers: Brooks Permissions and the Guild Literary Complex
BrooksDay is the Guild Literary Complex’s annual celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks, held every year on June 7th, the anniversary of her birth. This year, they take the stage at the American Writers Festival to honor her legacy as an artist and an iconic figure of generosity and civic conscience in Chicago and the nation. Presented in partnership with Brooks Permissions and the Guild Literary Complex.
About the writers:
Since 2013, BROOKSDAY has been a marquee event in the Guild’s yearly calendar with many literary, cultural, and civic leaders from Chicago—and beyond—taking the stage to celebrate and honor Gwendolyn Brooks, former poet laureate of Illinois and the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize.
BROOKS PERMISSIONS are committed to shining a well-deserved and continuing spotlight on the legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks through projects and programming, licensing, and visibility. The company has shared the works of Gwendolyn Brooks through its performing arts collective APG: The Aurora Performance Group; publications such as the most recent collection of her work, SEASONS: A Gwendolyn Brooks Experience; the illustrated poetry series, Graphic Gwendolyn; and this 75th anniversary edition of Annie Allen, which includes tribute poems and critical essays accompanying the original Pulitzer Prize-winning work by Gwendolyn Brooks. Learn more here.
Since 1989, the GUILD LITERARY COMPLEX has been elevating the literary voices of Chicago by connecting writers, artists, and audiences across the city. Born from a community bookstore and shaped by decades of pioneering and inclusive programming, the Guild Literary Complex brings together people and ideas through readings, performances, conversations, and experimental art that celebrate language. From honoring the legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks to Spanish-language programming and amplifying LGBTQIA+ voices, our work centers the literary as a powerful force for connection, reflection, and social imagination. Learn more here.
Annie Allen: 75th Anniversary Edition
by Gwendolyn Brooks
From Brooks Permissions, a celebration of Annie Allen, the groundbreaking work by Gwendolyn Brooks which made her the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize in any category. This new edition features the original collection of poems, as well as tribute poems and essays by nationally respected writers. These poems introduce you to Annie Allen and her community as she grows from childhood to womanhood and is faced with poverty, despair, racial discrimination, war and, somehow, hope. But Annie Allen doesn’t just inform us about the times of 75 years ago, it speaks to the tragedies and triumphs we face today.