Nikki Giovanni
Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni
was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Ohio. In 1960,
she entered Fisk University, where she worked with the school's
Writer's Workshop and edited the literary magazine. After
receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree, she organized the Black
Arts Festival in Cincinnati and then entered graduate school
at the University of Pennsylvania. In her first two collections,
Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968) and Black Judgement (1969),
Giovanni reflects on the African-American identity. Recently,
she has published Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not-Quite
Poems (William Morrow & Co., 2002) Blues For All the Changes:
New Poems (1999), Love Poems (1997) and Selected Poems of
Nikki Giovanni (1996). Her honors include the NAACP Image
Award for Literature in 1998, and the Langston Hughes award
for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996.
Several magazines have named Giovanni Woman of the Year, including
Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies Home Journal. She is currently
Professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black
Studies at Virginia Tech.
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