American poet Yolanda Cornelia ‘Nikki’ Giovanni leans on her desk beside a typewriter, in entrance of a wall adorned with photographs, 1973. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Hulton Archive
disguise caption
toggle caption
Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Hulton Archive
The famend poet Nikki Giovanni has died. Giovanni died on Monday, Dec. 9, following her third most cancers prognosis, in keeping with an announcement from pal and writer Renée Watson. She was 81. “We will ceaselessly be pleased about the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary kids throughout the writerly world,” mentioned poet Kwame Alexander within the assertion.
Giovanni printed her first poetry assortment, Black Feeling Black Talk, in 1968. It established her as an rising determine of the Black Arts Movement. In it, Giovanni writes concerning the intersections of affection, politics, loneliness and race. Her language is typically spare and longing, different instances dense and righteous. The last traces in “Word Poem” learn, “let’s construct / what we turn out to be /once we dream.”
She was born Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tenn. Though she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and its surrounding suburbs, she returned to Nashville to attend Fisk University for faculty. There, she met different writers who’d turn out to be main Black literary figures – Dudley Randall, Margaret Walker, Amiri Baraka and extra. While at Fisk, she additionally re-established the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
As her writing profession took off, Giovanni grew to become a daily visitor on Soul!, a Black arts and tradition speak present on WNET. Her dialog with the acclaimed author James Baldwin got here on the heels of being named “Woman of the Year” by each Ebony journal and Mademoiselle.
YouTube
Giovanni finally discovered her solution to Virginia Tech, educating English for greater than three many years. There, she expressed issues about one among her college students. He’d go on to homicide 32 folks within the Virginia Tech capturing in 2007. Speaking concerning the capturing, Giovanni advised NPR, “Killing is a scarcity of creation. It’s a scarcity of creativeness. It’s a lack of know-how who you’re and your house on the earth. Life is an fascinating and a good suggestion.”
She stored working till her last days. After dozens of poetry collections underneath her belt, she was engaged on getting her final guide of poetry out when she died. It’s nonetheless set to come back out subsequent yr, titled THE LAST BOOK.
