Artist

Sonia Sanchez is a prolific writer, poet, playwright and educator. Her poems depict the struggles between black people and white people, between men and women and between cultures. Her book, Homecoming (1969), is the first of over a dozen books focusing on social, psychological and generational issues in racism, sexism, child abuse and class conflicts. Later works include homegirls & handgrenades (1984), winner of an American Book Award, and Under a Soprano Sky (1986). Sanchez plays include The Bronx is Next, Malcom/Man Don't Live Here No Mo', Uh Uh; But How Do It Free Us?, Dirty Hearts and Sister Son/Ji. 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.