Yolande Cornelia Nikki Giovanni

Born: June 7, 1943
poet
Birthplace: Knoxville, Tennessee

A leading poet of the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni's work reflects her radical politics. In 1967 she graduated from Fisk University and published her first poetry collection,Black Feeling. It was followed by the poetry collectionsBlack Talk(1968) andBlack Judgment(1970).Truth Is on Its Way, a recording of Giovanni reading poems set to gospel and other Black music, was a bestseller in 1971. After the birth of her son in 1969, Giovanni's work became more personal and less political. In 1989 she began teaching English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanniwas published in 1996,Blues for All the Changes: New Poemsappeared in 1999, andThe Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968–1998came out in 2003.