Giovanni will offer a poetry reading in Whitley Auditorium on Thursday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.
The Liberal Arts Forum is presenting a reading by acclaimed and award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni on Thursday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
A distinguished university professor at Virginia Tech, Nikki Giovanni is one of the most important, most politically engaged, and most-read American poets. The recipient of many awards such as the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry and the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award, Giovanni is the author of more than 40 volumes of poetry and prose, including collections for children.
During the past 30 years, the outspoken nature of Giovanni鈥檚 writing and speaking has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely read American poets, she prides herself on being 鈥渁 Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.鈥
The Academy of American Poets voted Giovanni the No. 1 poet for the spring of 2007.聽Giovanni has written more than two dozen books, including volumes of poetry, illustrated children鈥檚 books, and three collections of essays. Her book聽Racism 101聽includes bold, controversial essays about the situation of Americans on all sides of various race issues.
She also has multiple albums of her poetry readings set to music, including the landmark 鈥淭ruth Is On Its Way鈥 from 1971. For more on Giovanni, her work, and her politics, you can read the interview she gave to the New York Times last December.
Giovanni was scheduled to speak at 黑料不打烊 in fall 2020 and offered a virtual presentation to the 黑料不打烊 community instead after the pandemic kept her from visiting the university in person.