Nikki Giovanni

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. (born June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an African-American poet and author.

Related Topics:
June 7 - 1943 - Knoxville, Tennessee - African-American - Poet

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In 1960, Giovanni began her studies at Fisk University in Nashville. She received a baccalaureate of arts degree in 1967. She gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child, in 1969.

Related Topics:
1960 - Fisk University - Nashville - 1967

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She has written more than two dozen books, including volumes of poetry, illustrated children?s books, and three collections of essays. The civil rights and black power movements informed her early poetry, collected in Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970). Giovanni then wrote poems for children throughout the next decade.

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Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983) acknowledged notable black figures. Giovanni collected her essays in the 1988 volume Sacred Cows...and Other Edibles. Her three most recent works are Love Poems, Blues: For All the Changes, and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea; Poems and Not Quite Poems.

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She has been a professor of writing and literature at Virginia Tech since 1987, and continues to tour nationwide.

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She is also fascinated by space and space travel.

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