Biography
Sonia Sanchez is a poet, playwright, professor, activist, and one of the foremost leaders of the
Black Studies movement. She is the author of more than 16 books, including her most
recent,
Morning Haiku. An important and influential scholar and teacher, her many honors and awards include
the PEN Writing Award, the American Book Award for Poetry, the National Academy of
Arts and Letters Award, and the National Education Association Award. She has received
the Peace and Freedom Award from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom,
the Langston Hughes Poetry Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Robert Creeley Award,
the Harper Lee Award, and the National Visionary Leadership Award, among many others.
Sanchez is one of 20 African American women featured in
Freedom Sisters, an interactive exhibition created by the Cincinnati Museum Center and Smithsonian
Institution traveling exhibition. She is a Professor Emerita at Temple University.
She delivered opening remarks at Stony Brook University's 2016 Black History Month
ceremonies.