American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni will present a free, public lecture entitled Grit, Grace and Glow as part of the Griot Institute‘s Black Radical Thought & Art Series on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Elaine Langone Center’s Forum.
Giovanni is one of America’s foremost poets. Over the course of a long career, she has published numerous collections of poetry—from her first self-published volume Black Feeling Black Talk (1968) to The New York Times best-seller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009) — several works of nonfiction and children’s literature, and multiple recordings including the Emmy Award nominated The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2004). Her most recent publications include Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid (2013) and, as editor, The 100 Best African American Poems (2010). A frequent lecturer and reader, Giovanni has taught at Rutgers University, Ohio State University, and Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor.
Giovanni has received numerous awards in the course of her career, including seven Image Awards from the N.A.A.C.P., more than two-dozen honorary degrees, the first Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award, the Langston Hughes Medal for Poetry, and the Carl Sandburg Literary Award. Additionally, Oprah Winfrey recognized her in 2005 as one of 25 “Living Legends.”
She continues to teach, write and publish books, the most recent of which is A Good Cry.
The lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of English.