RITA DOVE (1952-) is a poet and author, the first black and youngest Poet Laureate of the United States.
Rita Frances Dove was born August 28, 1952, to Ray and Elvira Dove in Akron, Ohio. Ray became the first black chemist to break the race barrier in the U.S. tire industry that same year, and Elvira was a former honor student who loved literature and shared that passion with her daughter.
Dove was a 1970 Presidential Scholar, one of the top 100 American high school graduates that year and went on to graduate summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi from Miami University in Ohio in 1973. The following year, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen in Germany. Three years later, she received her MFA from the University of Iowa. It was there that she met her husband, German novelist Fred Viebhan. They married in 1979, and have one daughter, Aviva Chantal Tamu Dove-Viebahn.
Dove published her first poetry collection, The Yellow House on the Corner, with Carnegie-Mellon University Press in 1980. It was followed by Museum (1983) and Thomas and Beulah (1986). Thomas and Beulah, a collection of interrelated poems loosely based on her grandparents’ life, earned her the 1987 Pulitzer Prize, making her the second black poet (after Gwendolyn Brooks in 1950) to receive the prestigious award.
Dove taught creative writing at Arizona State University from 1981 to 1989; she subsequently joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she has held the chair as Commonwealth Professor of English since 1993. In 1993, she was named Commonwealth Professor of English, a position she continues to hold. That same year the Library of Congress named Rita Dove Poet Laureate of the United States, the youngest and first black author to hold that office.
She went on to serve as Special Bicentennial Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress in 1999 and 2000. In 2004, Governor Mark Warner appointed her to a two-year position as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this position, Dove concentrated on spreading the word about poetry and increasing public awareness of the benefits of literature.
Her numerous awards and honors include a National Book Award; a Guggenheim Fellowship; a Rockefeller Foundation Residency; a Mellon Fellowship; a Heinz Award in Arts and Humanities; an Amy Lowell Fellowship; and a Shelley Memorial Award. Dove has received honorary doctorates from 18 universities including Boston College, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, the University of North Carolina, Columbia University, and Washington and Lee.
Rita Dove remains one of the most influential representatives of poetry’s past, present, and future and the value of spoken word through poetry in America.
|
Concrete Loop features ‘Black History Spotlights’ each week honoring black people who have played pivotal roles in history. submissions are welcome.
|
Learn something new everyday, thanks CL for the lesson
VERY INTERESTING.
AND SHE DIDN’T AGE A BIT, BLACK DON’T CRACK!!!
I have never heard of this woman before. Her accomplishments are amazing. I just googled pics of her and her husband-Viebahn. They look like a truly happy couple. I wish her continued success
Thanks CL for continuing to acknowledge our numerous contributions to this country. It’s a beautiful thing.
Great Story CL !!
I just came on the site to see if they update the Black History Spotlight. That’s awesome, I didn’t even know people could hold titles like that. Mrs. Dove is awesome, we bringing Black History to the masses on C-Loop.
Lovely CL.
Keep up the GREAT work CL! Thanks again for these wonderful Black History posts!
thank you cl! great post!
Wow, to graduate with that many honors…amazing!
Fascinating story. Thanks CL!
I’m shocked. Another erudite black woman that married the white man. I see that I’ma have to step my game up and send some entries to the brother because I’m seeing a trend here, lol.
Thanks CL! Great story on a living legend! I think I’m going to check out her poetry collection also!
She should revert to natural again. It suits her (us) better.
I love these Black History Spotlights. I’m going to stand on my soapbox for a minute:
For everyone on CL who is currently enrolled in an institute of higher learning or is about to graduate from high school and pursue a college degree, I applaud you. Education is extremely important and once you have received that piece of paper, NO ONE can take it from you. Employers don’t care if you have a degree in bullshit as long as you have a degree. I will be graduating this December and my advice is to utilize EVERY resource on those college campuses (you pay for them), put yourself out there and NETWORK (it’s not about what u know, it’s about who u know, it’s true), and most importantly KEEP GOD FIRST. Ok, I’m done, lol.
oh my black pearls; truth be told you are the backbone of our exsistence. without you i think the sun would refuse to shine. sisters keep reachin for the sky. all my love………………. black and broke
Oh Angel it was very surprising to see Rita Dove as one of your Black History spotlight! She is one of my favorite poets of all time. If anyone has read any of her poetry, please run and do so. She is a major talent and Thomas and Beulah is a bonafided American classic collection of poetry
Always look forward to these…
Keep up the good work CL!!!
Thanks CL. It’s BHM in the UK and it’s always good to learn something new about our histoy.
Glad you showed the sista some love… I to happen to be a poet, and know that many writers look up to Mrs. Dove… If correct she is also a professor at UVA…
CL I love the fact that you keep our history going…I’ve never heard of Mrs. Dove, but will def check her poetry out.
@prettygirl84…..so true…and congrats on pursing the educational dream.
Very well said #15 and also thanks concreteloop for keeping us informed…Be encouraged