She has also written the play The Darker Face of the Earth (1994), and collaborated as a lyricist with a variety of composers.ĭove has served as an editor as well, helming The Best American Poetry 20’s Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry the latter was released the same year as Dove’s critically acclaimed book-length poem Sonatta Mulattica, about biracial classical violinist George Polgreen Bridgetower. In addition to her poetry, Dove has penned prose, as seen with the short-story collection Fifth Sunday (1985), the novel Through the Ivory Gate (1992) and the essay collection The Poet’s World (1995). In 1996, after her laureate post had ended, Dove received the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton, the same year in which she received the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities.

(African American writers Robert Hayden and Gwendolyn Brooks were both Library of Congress Consultants in Poetry, which was replaced by the Poet Laureate Consultant title in 1985.) She was the first African American appointed to the position as well as the first woman and the youngest, at 41 years old. In May of 1993, Dove was named the poet laureate of the United States, a post held previously by bards like Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Brodsky. Other books include Grace Notes (1989) and Mother Love (1995), while her 1999 work On the Bus With Rosa Parks was hailed as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. In 1986 she published Thomas and Beulah, a semi-autobiographical look at the lives of her grandparents that won the poetry Pulitzer Prize the following year. Dove is known not only for the layered eloquence of her language and ideas but also for portraying portions of the Black experience in America, both on a personal and collective front. She published chapbooks early in her career and made her mark with collections like The Yellow House on the Corner (1980) and Museum (1983). Esteemed Writerĭove established a fine career in academia, eventually teaching at the University of Virginia and becoming an esteemed, award-winning poet. The two wed in 1979 and went on to have a daughter, Aviva. She met fellow writer Fred Viebahn, also of Germany, in the mid-1970s while he was studying at the Univ. She subsequently studied abroad in Germany before returning to the states and earning her M.F.A. She was honored as a Presidential Scholar, being ranked as one of the top 100 high school students in the nation, and as a National Merit Scholar attended Ohio’s Miami University, graduating in 1973 summa cum laude.

Education and Personal Lifeīorn in Akron, Ohio on August 28, 1952, Rita Dove developed a love for learning and literature at an early age in a household that encouraged reading. Other books from Dove include Mother Love and Sonata Mulattica.

She has won numerous awards for her work, including a 1987 Pulitzer Prize for the book of poetry Thomas and Beulah. She studied in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, later teaching creative writing at Arizona State University. She was an exceptional student and was invited to the White House as a Presidential Scholar out of high school. African American poet Rita Dove loved poetry and music from a young age.

Daystar by rita dove