Nikki Giovanni was awarded the Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Poetry Society of America on Feb. 26, two months after her dying.
The group stated it had nominated Giovanni for the consideration in fall 2024, shortly earlier than her dying in December.
“Nikki Giovanni loomed as a vital and highly effective determine in American literature and tradition, the creator of three dozen books of poetry, essays, and youngsters’s writing,” The Poetry Society of America wrote in its announcement. “With perception and stark intelligence, Giovanni’s written works articulate the best hopes of our nation as a land the place all are valued and all are free to be themselves and love who they want to love.”
Giovanni, a poet, activist, and educator (she spent 35 years at Virginia Tech), graduated from Fisk College in Nashville. She authored over 30 books in her titanic profession, which makes her the right recipient for this prestigious lifetime achievement award.
“Rising from the fervent Nineteen Sixties Black Arts Motion, Giovanni’s politically direct poetry gave a sound to the frustration of African People, who additionally present in her imagery and contours causes to treasure themselves,” The Poetry Society of America continued. “Her typically witty and deeply reflective poems spoke to the deep channels of affection and connection that are the supply of our energy and survival.”
The group described her artwork as empowering, and Giovanni was devoted to inspiring the nation’s youth to put in writing in regards to the world as they skilled it.
The Frost Medal was first introduced in 1930. It has lengthy been given to giants within the artwork type, equivalent to Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, and Adrienne Wealthy. It’s awarded yearly by the PSA’s Board of Governors.
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