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FREDERICK, Md., – Join renowned Poet and Author Nikki Giovanni on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m. in the Hodson Auditorium within Rosenstock Hall at 91��Ƶר�� College. Giovanni will be making a presentation, followed by a book signing. The presentation is sponsored by the Hanson lecture series via the foundation for enhancing communities. This event is free and open to the public

Nikki Giovanni is one of this country’s most widely read poets and one of America’s most renowned poets worldwide. Her poem, “Knoxville, Tennessee,” is arguably the single literary work most often associated with that city.

During the late 60’s and early 70’s, Giovanni lived in New York and began earning an income through her lectures and poetry readings. She became one of the most popular and recognizable poets of the Black Arts Movement.

In 1971, “Gemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet” was a finalist for the National Book Award. In 1987, she began teaching at Virginia Tech, where she was named a University Distinguished Professor in 1999.

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 twenty-five “Living Legends.”

She continues to teach, write and publish books, the most recent of which is “A Good Cry.” Her newest collection, Make Me Rain, was released in October of 2020.

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