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).

Comments
Name
Speaking of mispelling her name, here you list her as Phillis, in the timeline you list her as Phyllis. Are they both correct?
Phillis
Oh right, thanks - it should be Phillis. I will fix this on the timeline, thanks for catching it!
Pronunciation
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.
Whitefield
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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