Nora Brooks Blakely founded Brooks Permissions, in 2001, to license and promote the work of her mother, Gwendolyn Brooks by producing programming and publications which demonstrate her continuing relevance. The company recently published the 75th anniversary edition of Annie Allen, the book that made Gwendolyn Brooks the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize. For more information, go to gwendolynbrooks.net.

Ms. Blakely, who has written plays for young audiences for many years, has released her first picture book, Moyenda and The Golden Heart (a Kwanzaa origin tale) and is hard at work on her next book for children.