Nikki Giovanni

Poet Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated with a degree in history from Fisk University. A world-renowned poet and one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement, her notable books of poetry are Black Judgment (1968) and Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983), which were influenced by her participation in the Black Arts Movement and Black Power movement in the 1960s. 

Giovanni has published numerous collections of poetry—from her first self-published volume, Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), to New York Times best seller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009). She has written several works of nonfiction and children’s literature and made multiple recordings, including the Emmy-award nominated The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2004). Her most recent publications include Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose (2020); Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid (2013); and, as editor, The 100 Best African American Poems (2010). She has published more than two dozen volumes of poetry, essays, and edited anthologies and 11 illustrated children’s books, including Rosa, an award-winning biography of Rosa Parks. 

Giovanni has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the inaugural Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award, the American Book Award, the Langston Hughes Award, the Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Emily Couric Leadership Award, a Literary Excellence Award. She is a seven-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award. Her autobiography, Gemini, was a finalist for the 1973 National Book Award. In 2004, her album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection, was a Grammy finalist for Best Spoken Word Album.

Giovanni’s work explores race, gender, sexuality, and the African American family. Her poetry was political and worked to uplift the black experience in the arts and as part of the Black Arts Movement. Giovanni also dedicated herself to uplifting other Black writers, especially Black women writers, such as by editing and publishing Night Comes Softly (1970), an anthology of poetry written by Black women. She also advocates for the right to vote worldwide and supports the right of incarcerated people to vote. She continues to write poetry and recently made headlines for penning a poem titled “Vote” on the importance of voting.

Giovanni has taught at many universities, including Rutgers, Ohio State, and Queens College, City University of New York. She was on the faculty at Virginia Tech since 1987, where she was a University Distinguished Professor.