Nikki Giovanni, renowned poet and literary icon, dies at 81
FILE-Nikki Giovanni attends Nikki Giovanni's book signing at Wayne State University on September 30, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Monica Morgan/WireImage/Getty Images)
Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author, educator and public speaker who went on to become a literary celebrity, has died. She was 81.
Author of more than 25 books, Giovanni was a famed performer who fans came to know well from her work, her readings and other live appearances and her years on the faculty of Virginia Tech and other schools.
Giovanni's poetry collections, including "Black Judgement" and "Black Feeling Black Talk" sold thousands of copies, and led to invitations from "The Tonight Show" and other television programs and made her popular enough to fill a 3,000-seat concert hall at Lincoln Center for a celebration of her 30th birthday, according to the Associated Press.
The AP reported that Giovanni told her story through poetry, prose and the spoken word, reflecting on her childhood in Tennessee and Ohio, supporting the Black Power movement, addressing her battles with lung cancer, and paying tribute to heroes from Nina Simone to Angela Davis, while discussing personal passions like food and romance.
Giovanni was born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was soon called "Nikki" by her older sister.
She was 4 years old when her family moved to Ohio and eventually settled in the Black community of Lincoln Heights, outside of Cincinnati, and she would frequently travel between Tennessee and Ohio.
The AP noted that Giovanni's best known work came early in her career; the 1968 poem "Nikki-Rosa." It was a proclamation of her right to define herself, a warning to others against telling her story and a brief meditation on her poverty as a girl and the blessings she received like holiday gatherings with family.
Giovanni had a son, Thomas Watson Giovanni, in 1969, but never married his father. Later in her life, she lived with her partner, Virginia Fowler, a fellow faculty member at Virginia Tech.