Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez is a renowned writer, poet, playwright and activist. An influential force in African American literary and political culture for over three decades, she was also in the forefront of the Black studies movement and taught the first course in the country on Black Women. Sanchez is the author of over 18 books including Homecoming, We a BaddDDD People, I've Been a Woman, and Shake Loose My Skin. She was the winner of the 1995 American Book Award in Poetry for Homegirls and Handgrenades. Sanchez has also been the recipient of numerous other honors including a National Endowment for the Arts Award, the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Lucretia Mott Award, the governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities, and the Peace and Freedom Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Sanchez has traveled extensively, reading her poetry around the world. She was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University where she began teaching in 1977 and held the Laura Carnell Chair in English there until her retirement in 1999.