Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

Written by Phillis Wheatley

Narrated by Simone Gayuma

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was the first published book of poetry by an African-American woman. Phillis Wheatley was a servant to a family in Massachusetts, and initially promoted her poetry in Boston newspapers to find a publisher. When she was initially unable to find a publisher in America, she sent her poetry overseas to England, hoping to eventually find someone who would both believe in the authenticity of her words and allow them to be widely printed.

The significance of this collection is not in its contents alone, but in the fact that it was published and the work that went into it. To publish the collection, Phillis was required to attest before 18 Bostonian men (including John Hancock) to ensure that she had written the poems herself, and explain how she was able to learn reading and writing as a servant. Such extreme verification was required of Black writers for many generations, and is an example of the hardships that Black people faced in progressing in a society based on white “racial superiority.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662258848

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was an African American poet. Born in West Africa, she was stolen into slavery as a young girl and purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston. Raised to work as a servant for Susanna Wheatley, she was tutored by the Wheatley children in reading and writing, learning Greek and Latin by the age of twelve and writing her first poem at fourteen. Recognizing her talent, the Wheatley family sought publication for her work, eventually moving Phillis to London at the age of twenty in search of wealthy patrons. In 1773, her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral became the first book of poetry ever published by an African American author, earning her worldwide fame and the acclaim of such figures as George Washington, Jupiter Hammon, Voltaire, and John Paul Jones. That same year, she was emancipated by the Wheatleys, and in 1778 she married a free black businessman named John Peters. Her final years were plagued with illness, debt, and manual labor; her death at the age of thirty-one cut short the improbable life of a true pioneer of American literature.