Nikki Giovanni on the day of her Given Lecture at Wilson College.

Visited Wilson in November 1975 as the Given Lecturer

Nikki Giovanni, sometimes called the “Princess of Black Poetry,” is one of the poets who defined the 70s and 80s. Her works cover topics like motherhood, friendship, loneliness, desire, race and womanhood, and she continues to craft creative poetry today.

Giovanni attended Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee, where she graduated with honors in 1967. During her time there, she was actively involved with the student newspaper, writer’s workshops, and political activism. In an interview with The Washington Post, she admitted that while in college, she was told that she could never write, or that at least her works would never be popular. 

She proved her critics wrong in 1968, when her first two published collections of poetry about the plight of Black people in America achieved massive success. She published her third collection in 1970, and was invited to give speeches, lectures, and readings across the country. 

She extended her work to children’s literature, and continued to write provocatively political pieces, in both newspaper columns and poetry collections. For decades, Giovanni addressed American social issues and culture with her writing, often speaking out against all forms of injustice. 

Awards she has won include seven 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, including Wilson College. A species of bat has also been named after her, the micronycteris giovanniae.

Nikki Giovanni came to Wilson to speak as one of the Given Lecturers for 1975. She wowed audiences with readings from her latest works of poetry, and students and faculty alike were able to pick up some of her books from a display in the library. 

Sources:

Billboard Volume 57 No. 4 October 31, 1975

Billboard Volume 57 No. 6 November 14, 1975

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/nikki-giovanni