WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington Memorial Library recently hosted a virtual lecture on African American poet Phillis Wheatley, who is believed to have live in Wilmington during a portion of her life.
Wheatley was a pioneer of African-British, African-American, and American literature. Kidnapped from West Africa as a child and enslaved in Boston, she became the first English-speaking author of African descent to publish a book of poems in 1773. Phillis lived in town with her husband John Peters in 1780.
Vincent Carretta, scholar and author of Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage, discussed Wheatley’s works, life and legacy in a 60-minute lecture.
Watch the lecture, courtesy of the Wilmington Memorial Library’s YouTube channel, here:
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