Brooks Permissions

26/12/2025

07/12/2025

We are so excited to announce our latest project, coming out in 2026!

🎨 OUR FIRST COLORING BOOK! 🎨

I KNOW GWENDOLYN BROOKS!
Learning about a legend — One page at a time”

Brenda Malone, coloring book creator extraordinaire, and our President, Nora Brooks Blakely, have been working on this project for a while.

Follow us on Brooks Permissions on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky and share your thoughts as we share our ideas for the cover, some of the illustrations, and the best way to spread the word.

If you’d like to be on our list for regular updates (not too often!) please email us at —
👉🏾 info@Gwendolyn Brooks.net Subject line: I KNOW!

05/12/2025

~ Priceless inspiration at an unbelievable price. ~

This past Tuesday, December 3rd, marked the 25th anniversary of the passing of Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winner, Poet Laureate, staunch artivist. Of course, this was a loss to the cultural world, but what about the everyday people who are encouraged and informed by her words?

✍🏾 “This is the urgency: Live!
and have your blooming in the noise of the whirlwind.” ✍🏾
from THE SECOND SERMON ON THE WARPLAND

And now is the time to take advantage of this special opportunity to share messages like these.
👉🏾 50% OFF! 👈🏽
🤎 GIVERS What a precious gift to new generations or friends and family who already know and love Ms. Brooks’s work.
🤎 EDUCATORS Use this opportunity to prepare for your next classes.
🤎 BOOKSELLERS Prepare for purchasers in Black History Month, Women’s History Month and National Poetry Month.

✍🏾 “we are each other’s harvest:
we are each other’s business:
we are each other’s magnitude and bond." ✍🏾
from “PAUL ROBESON”

💥 GET INSPIRED! ORDER TODAY! 💥
https://bit.ly/ShopGwendolynBrooks

07/11/2025

IT’S NOVEMBER!
And our minds turn to warm thoughts and deep appreciation.
And that’s why our November GB7 is the perfect time to give thanks.

2025 continues to be such a pivotal year for us here at Brooks Permissions. Keep an eye out for our December and January GB7s for exciting news including:
📍A 2025 retrospective
📍The upcoming Gwendolyn coloring book
📍Planning for the 60th anniversary celebration of
In The Mecca in 2028
AND
📍Brooks Permissions’ very own 25th anniversary
(2001-2026)! 🥳

In the meantime, if you’re looking for great holiday gifts:
📖 Annie Allen: The 75th anniversary edition
and
📖 Seasons: a Gwendolyn Brooks Experience
are 50% off for the early birds. ONLY through December 1st!
💥 https://bit.ly/ShopGwendolynBrooks 💥
And for more information on the life, literature, and legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks:
👉🏾 [email protected]

Again, so many Thank You(s) for being a part of our journey.

16/10/2025

Check out what’s happening at The Conference!
Today, tomorrow and Saturday!

07/10/2025

👉🏾 It’s our October GB7 . . .

JOIN THE TREND!
Get your holiday shopping done early!
October 7 – December 1, 2025

Brooks Permissions is making it easy (and affordable!) to give the gift of poetry:
📚 Annie Allen: The 75th Anniversary Edition — 50% OFF
📚 Seasons: A Gwendolyn Brooks Experience — 50% OFF

WHAT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY!
🎁 Gift Givers
Share the beauty of Gwendolyn Brooks’ words with friends and family—timeless, meaningful, and unforgettable.

🎓 Educators
Bring classic literature into their classrooms at a fraction of the cost.

📚 Bookstore Owners
Now you can stock up with our lowest discount of the year.

▪️gwendolynbrooksnet▪️

Don’t wait—this special offer ends December 1st!

07/09/2025

Thank you for joining us today for our September GB7.
THE RESULTS ARE IN!

On August 7, 2025 (GB7) Brooks Permissions held a brainstorming session on Zoom to begin planning the 2028 celebration honoring Gwendolyn Brooks and her groundbreaking work “In the Mecca”.
We boiled down two hours of hard work to this infographic.

For more information on With/In The Mecca 2028, contact us at
[email protected]. Subject line: More Mecca.

And don’t forget to share your thoughts on the brainstorming results.
📍Tell us which ideas are your favorites. 📍Add your ideas to the mix!

We can’t wait to hear from you!

What is GB7?
On the 7th day of each month, in honor of Gwendolyn Brooks’s
birthdate we offer a special program, info packet, announcement or video.

02/09/2025

IT’S COMING THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH!
We’re revealing the results of our first brainstorming session!

Thanks to everyone who showed up to our August GB7 Zoom session. Special thanks to Giau Truong for being our visiting TechFace!

Their exciting ideas kicked off the brainstorming for our 60th anniversary celebration of the groundbreaking work In The Mecca, coming in 2028. With this book, Gwendolyn Brooks’ expanded the possibilities of Black poetry and narrative form.

NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!
📍Check in with Brooks Permissions this Sunday
on our Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky pages.
📍Tell us which ideas are your favorites.
📍Add your ideas to the mix!

We can’t wait to hear from you!

07/08/2025

In In the Mecca (1968), Gwendolyn Brooks turned the Mecca Flats, a now-vanished monumental Chicago apartment building into a pulsing poetic world, taking us on a rhythmic, unsparing journey through the lives of its residents. This daring volume changed the possibilities of Black poetry and narrative form.

In 2028, we’ll mark the 60th anniversary of this groundbreaking work
—and we’re starting the planning now.

This interactive gathering tonight is your chance to share bold ideas, dream aloud, and help shape what the yearlong tribute to In the Mecca might look like.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gb7-brainstorming-session-in-the-mecca-at-60-visioning-2028-tickets-1553507886909?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=3406a3c3b6042f8455ba1ed1a7f3d001e022ab86637f84e0cb83d8e0384a6bfcb3b11bb37620068b9228cc73ab8d3dd1297810c2d22a356a87dd6d61e0264c9ffe257aea805bc658d94c18b3a5

02/08/2025

“Now the way of the Mecca was on this wise.”
~ Gwendolyn Brooks

12/07/2025

To honor ourselves we must honor them.
Join us this afternoon for the celebration.

07/07/2025

How do you celebrate a book about a single building that held a universe of Black dreams, struggle, brilliance, and survival?

With a lot of advance notice!

That’s why we’re letting you know NOW about the 60th anniversary of Gwendolyn Brooks’ mesmerizing work, In the Mecca, coming in 2028.

How will we celebrate? When an event of this magnitude is 2 1/2 years away, ANYTHING is possible. If you’d like to be kept up-to-date on our plans, if you have ideas you’d like to share, please email us.

[email protected]
Subject line: In The Mecca