David Waldstreicher’s The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence offers the fullest account to date of Wheatley’s life and works. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, Wheatley became a noted poet at a young age. She is considered the first African American author to publish a book of poetry and had a lasting influence on the Founding generation as well as generations to come. In this episode of We the People, David Waldstreicher of CUNY and Nancy Isenberg of Louisiana State University join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Wheatley’s life and towering poetic legacy. 

Resources:

• David Waldstreicher, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence (2023)
• Nancy Isenberg, Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America (1998)
• Phillis Wheatley, Letter to Reverend Samuel Occum (1774)

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