Phillis Wheatley: Biography Of A Genius In Bondage’ By Vincent Carretta

UMD English professor publishes new book on Phillis Wheatley, former slave who became mother of African American literature.

UMD English professor publishes new book on Phillis Wheatley, former slave who became mother of African American literature.

By James Sullivan, The Boston Globe

When Phillis Wheatley published her debut collection of poems in 1773, she expressed her gratitude to the Countess of Huntingdon, to whom the young writer dedicated her book. In a letter to the countess, Wheatley wrote that she was thankful for her patronage, with which, the poet wrote, “my feeble efforts will be Shielded from the Severe trials of unpitying Criticism.’’
 But Wheatley, often called the “founding mother of African-American literature,’’ faced little criticism during her brief lifetime. Instead, she was widely heralded - in Boston, where she was brought as a 7-year-old slave, throughout the Colonies, and in literary London - as definitive proof that people of African origin were perfectly capable of impressive humanity and artistry.
 Not until after she died was Wheatley’s verse subjected to a measure of infamous scorn - at the pen of Thomas Jefferson, no less. The late poet’s compositions, wrote the future president, were “below the dignity of criticism.’’

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