Did you know
that the first writer, male or female, in history whose name and work have been preserved was a woman?

Enheduanna, who was born ca. 2300 B.C.E. in Sumeria, wrote poems to the moon goddess Inanna that are written on cuneiform tablets.

Did you know
that the first American to publish a book of poems was a woman?

Anne Bradstreet, who emigrated to America in l630 and led a busy life as the wife of the governor of Massachusetts and the mother of eight children, had her book, The Tenth Muse, published in London in l650.

Did you know
that the first African-American, male or female, to publish a book of poems was a woman?

Phyliss Wheatley, who was kidnapped in Africa at age seven and brought to America as a slave, had her book, Poems, published in London in l773, after she was unable to find a publisher in this country.

About the illustrations: That of Enheduanna is a gif from Artwork by Ariel that fits my vision of what Enheduanna might have looked like. That of Anne Bradstreet is from an oil painting by Ladonna Gulley Warrick of Ft. Wayne, Indiana; it is her vision of Bradstreet, as no portraits of her exist. That of Phillis Wheatley is the engraving of her from her book.