Nikki Giovanni |
BioGraphy
Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, born June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee grew up to be the influential African-American poet known today as Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni was raised in Lincoln Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, and was one of three children in her close knit family. The connection felt between Giovanni and her family is made most evident in her poem "Nikki-Rosa." At the age of 16 Giovanni attended Fisk University where she received a B.A. and magna cum laude in history. Not only did Giovanni's enrollment at Fisk lead to a degree in history but it also evoked in her a love of literature; causing Giovanni to participate in John Oliver Killens' writers workshop.
The new found love of writing accompanied by her ever present interest in history, specifically black history led Giovanni, with the aid of the Ford Foundation, to publish her first book of poetry Black Feeling, Black Talk. The next book of poetry published by Giovanni in 1968 was Black Judgement, which was published with a grant given by the Harlem Cultural Council of Art. After the publication of Giovanni's second collection of poetry took on more of a leadership role as the Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Queens College in 1968 while teaching a creative writing course at Rutgers University until 1970. Then in 1969 Giovanni gave birth to her son Thomas Watson, which inspired Giovanni to write more children's poetry.
As Giovanni's poetic subject matter began to shift she traveled across the country as a college speaker who advocated for black equality, a never changing passion of her's. Giovanni has received countless awards for not only her poetry but for her work in the black community; some of these awards include: NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, the Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award and over twenty honorary degrees from colleges and universities around the country. Giovanni is currently a distinguished professor of English at Virginia Tech and continues to write poetry.
The new found love of writing accompanied by her ever present interest in history, specifically black history led Giovanni, with the aid of the Ford Foundation, to publish her first book of poetry Black Feeling, Black Talk. The next book of poetry published by Giovanni in 1968 was Black Judgement, which was published with a grant given by the Harlem Cultural Council of Art. After the publication of Giovanni's second collection of poetry took on more of a leadership role as the Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Queens College in 1968 while teaching a creative writing course at Rutgers University until 1970. Then in 1969 Giovanni gave birth to her son Thomas Watson, which inspired Giovanni to write more children's poetry.
As Giovanni's poetic subject matter began to shift she traveled across the country as a college speaker who advocated for black equality, a never changing passion of her's. Giovanni has received countless awards for not only her poetry but for her work in the black community; some of these awards include: NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, the Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award and over twenty honorary degrees from colleges and universities around the country. Giovanni is currently a distinguished professor of English at Virginia Tech and continues to write poetry.
Annotated Bibliography
"Nikki Giovanni." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
The page dedicated to the biography of Nikki Giovanni on the Poetry Foundation website gives a detailed look into the life and works of this famous black poet. This biography starts with the birth of this Ms. Giovanni and follows her career thoroughly until the year 2010, when this page was last updated. The source from which I found this biographical information is a credible one because of its respectable base, The Modern Poetry Association, and the in depth research done for all poets and their poetry. I intend on using this page from the Poetry Foundation as a source of biographical information for my poetry research project.
Critical Survey of Poetry. 3rd volume. New Jersey: Salem Press, 1982. Print.
The volume of critical surveys on poetry published by Salem Press is an eight piece volume that writes about poets from most, if not all time periods. These volumes of criticisms on various poets include biographical information, actual poems by the poet, and criticism about the poet. This is a credible source of information because one, it is a published work of a volume set, and two because it is well respected enough to have remained relevant since its publication in 1982. I plan to use the third book from this volume to research biographical information about my poet as well as find poems written by my poet that may not already be included in an anthology.
"Nikki Giovanni." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
The page dedicated to the biography of Nikki Giovanni on the Poetry Foundation website gives a detailed look into the life and works of this famous black poet. This biography starts with the birth of this Ms. Giovanni and follows her career thoroughly until the year 2010, when this page was last updated. The source from which I found this biographical information is a credible one because of its respectable base, The Modern Poetry Association, and the in depth research done for all poets and their poetry. I intend on using this page from the Poetry Foundation as a source of biographical information for my poetry research project.
Critical Survey of Poetry. 3rd volume. New Jersey: Salem Press, 1982. Print.
The volume of critical surveys on poetry published by Salem Press is an eight piece volume that writes about poets from most, if not all time periods. These volumes of criticisms on various poets include biographical information, actual poems by the poet, and criticism about the poet. This is a credible source of information because one, it is a published work of a volume set, and two because it is well respected enough to have remained relevant since its publication in 1982. I plan to use the third book from this volume to research biographical information about my poet as well as find poems written by my poet that may not already be included in an anthology.