33. Young, Gifted, and Black: Phillis Wheatley

Posted on 21 July 2019

Phillis Wheatley astonishes colonial Americans with her exquisite and precocious poetry and reflects on the liberating power of the imagination.

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Further Reading

• J.C. Shields (ed.), The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley (Oxford: 1988).

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• V. Carretta, Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (Athens, GA: 2011).

• M.A. Richmond, Bid the Vassal Soar: Interpretative Essays on the Life and Poetry of Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753 - 1784) and George Moses Horton (ca. 1797 - 1883) (Washington DC: 1974).

• W.H. Robinson, Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley (Boston: 1982).

• J.C. Shields, Phillis Wheatley’s Poetics of Liberation: Backgrounds and Contexts (Knoxville: 2008).

• J.C. Shields (ed.), New Essays on Phillis Wheatley (Knoxville: 2011).

• D. Waldstreicher, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: a Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence (New York: 2023).

Comments

Alexander Johnson 10 April 2020

Speaking of mispelling her name, here you list her as Phillis, in the timeline you list her as Phyllis.  Are they both correct?

Peter Adamson 11 April 2020

In reply to by Alexander Johnson

Oh right, thanks - it should be Phillis. I will fix this on the timeline, thanks for catching it!

S.G. 30 June 2020

Hi,
I have read that George Whitefield's name should be pronounced "Witfield", with a short first i. (See the Wikipedia article).
By the way, thank you for this wonderful series! I am also looking forward to the episodes on white abolitionists (and slavery advocates) in the main series.

Oh thanks, I did not realize that but it makes sense. With so many difficult pronunciations in the India and Africana series, you'd think I could've gotten this one right!

Glad you like the series.

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