Sonia Sanchez
Sanchez in 1998
Born	Wilsonia Benita Driver (1934-09-09)September 9, 1934 (age 91) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation	Poet educator columnist dramatist essayist
Education	Hunter College (BA) New York University
Notable awards	P.E.N. Writing Award (1969) Robert Frost Medal (2001) Wallace Stevens Award (2018)
Spouse	Albert Sanchez ​ (divorced)​ Etheridge Knight ​ (divorced)​
Children	3
Website
soniasanchez.net

Sonia Sanchez (bornWilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934)^[1] is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in theBlack Arts Movement and has written more than a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays, plays, and children's books. In the 1960s, Sanchez released poems in periodicals targeted towards African-American audiences, and published her debut collection,Homecoming, in 1969. In 1993, she received aPew Fellowship in the Arts, and in 2001 was awarded theRobert Frost Medal for her contributions to the canon of American poetry.^[1] She has been influential to other African-American poets, includingKrista Franklin.^[2] Sanchez is a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.^[3]

Sanchez was born inBirmingham, Alabama, United States, on September 9, 1934, to Wilson L. Driver and Lena Jones Driver. Her mother died when Sanchez was only one year old, so she spent several years being shuttled back and forth among relatives. One of those was her grandmother, who died when Sanchez was six years old.^[2] The death of her grandmother proved to be a trying time in her life, and Sanchez developed a stutter, which contributed to her becoming introverted. However, her stutter only caused her to read more and more and pay close attention to language and its sounds.^[4][5]

In 1943, Sanchez moved toHarlem in New York City to live with her father (a school teacher), her sister, and her stepmother, who was her father's third wife. When in Harlem, she learned to manage her stutter and excelled in school, finding her poetic voice, which later emerged during her studies atHunter College. Sanchez focused on the sound of her poetry, admitting to always reading it aloud, and received praise for her use of the full range of African and African-American vocal resources. She is known for her sonic range and dynamic public readings. She now terms herself an "ordained stutterer".^[2] Sanchez earned a BA degree in political science in 1955 from Hunter College.

Sanchez pursued post-graduate studies atNew York University (NYU), working closely withLouise Bogan. During her time at NYU, she formed a writers' workshop inGreenwich Village, where the "Broadside Quartet" was born. The "Broadside Quartet" included other prominent Black Arts Movement artists such asHaki Madhubuti,Nikki Giovanni andEtheridge Knight. These young poets were introduced and promoted byDudley Randall, an established poet and publisher.

Although her first marriage to Albert Sanchez did not last, Sonia Sanchez would retain her professional name. She and Albert had one daughter named Anita. She later married Etheridge Knight, and had twin sons named Morani Neusi and Mungu Neusi, but they divorced after two years. Motherhood heavily influenced the motifs of her poetry in the 1970s, with the bonds between mother and child emerging as a key theme. She also has three grandchildren.^[6][2]

Sanchez taught 5th Grade in NYC at theDowntown Community School, until 1967. She has taught as a professor at eight universities and has lectured at more than 500 college campuses across the US, includingHoward University. She was also a leader in the effort to establish the discipline of Black Studies at the university level. In 1966, while teaching atSan Francisco State University, she introduced Black Studies courses. Sanchez was the first to create and teach a course based on Black Women and literature in the United States and the course she offered on African-American literature is generally considered the first of its kind, as it was taught at a predominantly white university.^[7] She viewed the discipline of Black Studies as both a new platform for the study of race and a challenge to the institutional biases of American universities. These efforts are clearly in line with the goals of the Black Arts Movement, and she was a known Black feminist. Sanchez was the first Presidential Fellow atTemple University, where she began working in 1977. There, she held the Laura Carnell chair until her retirement in 1999. She is currently a poet-in-residence at Temple University. She has read her poetry inAfrica,the Caribbean,China,Australia,Europe,Nicaragua, andCanada.

Sanchez supported theNational Black United Front and was a very influential part of theCivil Rights Movement and theBlack Arts Movement. In the early 1960s, Sanchez became a member of CORE (Congress for Racial Equality), where she metMalcolm X. Though she was originally an integrationist in her thinking, after hearing Malcolm X speak Sanchez became more separatist in her thinking and focused more on her black heritage and identity.^[8]

In 1972, Sanchez joined theNation of Islam, during which time she publishedA Blues Book for Blue Black Magical Women (1974), but she left the organization after three years, in 1975 because her views on women's rights conflicted with the Nation's. She continues to advocate for the rights of oppressed women and minority groups.^[7]She wrote many plays and books that had to do with the struggles and lives of Black America. Among her plays areSister Son/ji, which was first produced Off-Broadway at theNew York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater in 1972;Uh, Huh: But How Do it Free us?, staged in Chicago at theNorthwestern University Theatre in 1975, andMalcolm Man/Don't Live Here No Mo’, first produced in 1979 at the ASCOM Community Center in Philadelphia.^[6]

Sanchez has edited two anthologies of Black literature:We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Stories by Black Americans (1974) and360° of Blackness Coming at You (1999). She is also committed to a variety of activist causes, including the Brandywine Peace Community, MADRE, and Plowshares.

The aim of theBlack Arts Movement was a renewal of black will, insight, energy, and awareness. Sanchez published poetry and essays in numerous periodicals in the 1960s, includingThe Liberator,Negro Digest, andBlack Dialogue. Her writing established her importance as a political thinker to the "black aesthetic" program.^[2] Sanchez gained a reputation as an important voice in the Black Arts Movement after publishing the book of poemsHomecoming in 1969. This collection and her second in 1970, titledWe a BaddDDD People, demonstrated her use of experimental poetic forms to discuss the development of black nationalism and identity.^[9]

Sanchez is known for her innovative melding of musical formats—such as the blues—and traditional poetic formats such ashaiku andtanka. She also uses spelling to celebrate the unique sound ofblack English, for which she gives credit to poets such asLangston Hughes andSterling Brown.^[8]

Her first collection of poems,Homecoming (1969), is known for its blues influences in both form and content. The collection describes both the struggle of defining black identity in the United States as well as the many causes for celebration Sanchez sees in black culture.^[10] Her second book,We a BaddDDD People (1970), solidifies her contribution to the Black Arts Movement aesthetic by focusing on the everyday lives of black men and women. These poems make use of urban black vernacular, experimental punctuation, spelling, and spacing, and the performative quality of jazz.^[10]

Though still emphasizing what she sees as the need for revolutionary cultural change, Sanchez's later works, such asI've Been a Woman (1978),Homegirls and Handgrenades (1985), andUnder a Soprano Sky (1987), tend to focus less on separatist themes (like those ofMalcolm X), and more on themes of love, community, and empowerment. She continues to explores the haiku, tanka, and sonku forms, as well as blues-influenced rhythms. Later works continue her experiments with forms such as the epic inDoes Your House Have Lions? (1997), an emotional account of her brother's deadly struggle with AIDS,^[2] and the haiku inMorning Haiku (2010).^[9]

In addition to her poetry, Sanchez's contributions to the Black Arts Movement included drama and prose. She began writing plays while in San Francisco in the 1960s. Several of her plays challenge the masculinist spirit of the movement, focusing on strong female protagonists. Sanchez has been recognized as a pioneering champion of black feminism.^[2]

Her more recent contemporary endeavors include a spoken-word interlude on "Hope is an Open Window", a song co-written byDiana Ross from her 1998 albumEvery Day is a New Day. The song is featured as the sound bed for a tribute video to9/11 that can be viewed onYouTube. Sanchez is currently among 20 African-American women to be a part ofFreedom's Sisters, a mobile exhibition initiated by theCincinnati Museum Center and theSmithsonian Institution.^[11]

Sanchez became Philadelphia's firstPoet Laureate, after being appointed by MayorMichael Nutter. She served in that position from 2012 to 2014.^[12]

In 2013, Sanchez headlined the 17th annual Poetry Ink, at which she read her poem "Under a Soprano Sky".^[13]

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, a documentary film by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater andSabrina Schmidt Gordon spotlighting Sanchez's work, career, influence and life story, was released in 2015,^[14][15] when it was shown at theFull Frame Documentary Film Festival^[16] The film premiered in the UK on June 22, 2016, atRivington Place,London.^[17]

In 1969, Sanchez was awarded the P.E.N. Writing Award. She was awarded theNational Education Association Award 1977–1988. She won the National Academy and Arts Award and theNational Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award in 1978–79. In 1985, she received theAmerican Book Award forHomegirls and Handgrenades. She has also been awarded the Community Service Award from theNational Black Caucus of State Legislators, theLucretia Mott Award, the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities, and the Peace and Freedom Award from theWomen's International League for Peace and Freedom, as well as the 1999 Langston Hughes Poetry Award, the 2001 Robert Frost Medal, the 2004 Harper Lee Award, and the 2006 National Visionary Leadership Award.^[11] In 2009, she received the Robert Creeley Award, from theRobert Creeley Foundation.^[18]

In 2017, Sanchez was honored at the 16th Annual Dr. Betty Shabazz Awards in a ceremony held on June 29 at theSchomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem.^[19]

In 2018, she won the Wallace Stevens Award from theAcademy of American Poets for proven mastery of the art of poetry.^[20][21]

At the 84th AnnualAnisfield-Wolf Book Awards ceremony on September 26, 2019, Sanchez was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by theCleveland Foundation.^[22]

In October 2021, Sanchez was awarded the 28th annualDorothy and Lillian Gish Prize "in recognition of her ongoing achievements in inspiring change through the power of the word."^[23]

In 2022, Sanchez was awarded TheEdward MacDowell Medal byThe MacDowell Colony for outstanding contributions to American culture.^[24]

Poetry

• Homecoming,Broadside Press, 1969
• We a BaddDDD People (1970), Broadside Press, 1973
• Love Poems, Third Press, 1973
• A Blues Book for a Blue Black Magic Woman, Broadside Press, 1974
• Autumn Blues: New Poems,Africa World Press, 1994,ISBN 978-0865432086
• Continuous Fire: A Collection of Poetry, 1994,ISBN 978-0865432123
• Shake Down Memory: A Collection of Political Essays and Speeches, Africa World Press, 1991,ISBN 978-0865432116
• It's a New Day: Poems for Young Brothas and Sistuhs (1971)
• Homegirls and Handgrenades (1985) (reprintWhite Pine Press, 2007,ISBN 978-1-893996-80-9)
• Under a Soprano Sky, Africa World Press, 1987,ISBN 978-0-86543-052-5
• I've Been a Woman: New and Selected Poems,Third World Press, 1985,ISBN 978-0-88378-112-8
• Wounded in the House of a Friend, Beacon Press, 1995,ISBN 978-0-8070-6826-7
• Does Your House Have Lions?, Beacon Press, 1997,ISBN 978-0-8070-6830-4
• Like the Singing Coming Off the Drums, Beacon Press, 1998,ISBN 9780807068434
• Shake Loose My Skin. Beacon Press. 2000.ISBN 978-0-8070-6853-3.
• Morning Haiku. Beacon Press. 2010.ISBN 978-0-8070-6910-3.
• Collected Poems, Beacon Press, 2021,ISBN 978-0807026526

Plays

• Black Cats and Uneasy Landings (1995)
• I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't (1982)
• The Bronx is Next (1970)
• Sista Son/Ji (1972)
• Uh Huh, But How Do It Free Us? (1975)
• Malcolm Man/Don't Live Here No More (1979)
• I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't and Other Plays (Duke University Press, 2010)

Short-story collections

• A Sound Investment and Other Stories (1979)

Children's books

• It's a New Day (1971)
• A Sound Investment
• The Adventures of Fat Head, Small Head, and Square Head, The Third Press, 1973,ISBN 978-0-89388-094-1

Anthologies

• (Editor)We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Stories by Black Americans (1974)
• (Editor)360 Degrees of Blackness Coming at You! (1999)
• (Contributor)Margaret Busby, ed. (1992),Daughters of Africa:An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present.
• (Contributor)Robert Bly;David Lehman, eds. (1999).The Best American Poetry, 1999. Scribner.ISBN 978-0-684-84280-6.
• (Contributor)Junot Díaz, ed. (2001)."A Poem for My Father".The Beacon Best of 2001: Great Writing by Women and Men of All Colors and Cultures. Beacon Press.ISBN 978-0-8070-6239-5.
• (Contributor)Arnold Rampersad; Hilary Herbold, eds. (2006)."answer to yo / question of am i not yo / woman even if you went on shit again".The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-512563-4.

Interviews

• Joyce Ann Joyce, ed. (2007).Conversations with Sonia Sanchez. University Press of Mississippi.ISBN 978-1-57806-952-1.

• A Sun Lady for All Seasons Reads Her Poetry (Folkways Records, 1971)
• Every Tone a Testimony (Smithsonian Folkways, 2001)

• Mumia Abu-Jamal

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSonia Sanchez.

• Official website
• Sonia Sanchez Collection at Boston University
• Academy of American Poets
• Sonia Sanchez Biography at Voices from the Gap
• Joyce Joyce and John Reilly,Approaches to teaching Sonia Sanchez's poetry
• Sonia Sanchez Biography at Speak Out
• Sonia Sanchez article at the Heath Anthology of American Literature
• Sonia Sanchez's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 20th-century African-American women writers
• 20th-century African-American writers
• 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
• 20th-century American poets
• 20th-century American short story writers
• 20th-century American women poets
• 21st-century African-American people
• 21st-century African-American women
• 1934 births
• Activists for African-American civil rights
• Activists from Pennsylvania
• African-American dramatists and playwrights
• African-American poets
• African-American short story writers
• African-American women short story writers
• American anthologists
• American anti-war activists
• American Book Award winners
• American short story writers
• American women academics
• American women anthologists
• American women civil rights activists
• American women dramatists and playwrights
• American women short story writers
• Black Arts Movement writers
• English-language haiku poets
• Former Nation of Islam members
• Howard University alumni
• Hunter College alumni
• Living people
• Pew Fellows in the Arts
• Poets laureate of Philadelphia
• Temple University faculty
• The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize winners
• Writers from Birmingham, Alabama

• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
• People appearing on C-SPAN