Phillis Wheatley - Poet and Author

Phillis Wheatley was born around 1753 in West Africa - likely present-day Senegal or Gambia. She was kidnapped and enslaved as a young child and in 1761 Phillis was transported to Boston and purchased by the Wheatley family. In an extraordinary twist of fate the Wheatley's taught her to read and write - which was unheard of, and an extremely rare occurrence at the time, that an enslaved person would receive an education. By the time she was twelve years of age Phillis was reading Latin and Greek classics and composing her own poetry.

As a teenager Phillis had a couple of poems published in local newspapers, however Mrs Wheatley had no success when she tried to find a publisher for Phillis’ book of poetry - she was turned down because she was Black. Mrs Wheatley contacted friends in the UK who were impressed with her work, located a publisher and invited them to London. Phillis travelled to the UK with one of the Wheatley sons in the early 1770s, where she published her book of poetry 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral', making her the first ever African American woman to publish a book. Phillis’ poetry tackled themes of freedom, religion, and morality.

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