Rita Dove

Rita Dove is a contemporary Poet (1952-present) who is a multitalented artist and an inspiration to the world of literature and music. It is not surprising to me that she was born into an accomplished family - her father was the first Black research chemist who broke the race barrier in the tire industry. Dove, herself, has accomplished major feats and awards in her lifetime. She was the yougest person, and the first African American, to be appointed appointed Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress in 1993 and has published a multitude of poems. However, Rita Dove is not only a poet but also an author of short stories, a novel, and a playwright. She has even writen songs, one of which was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I was intrigued by her vast array of accomplishments, but of course by her poetry as well. Her poems are impressive, flavored by her background in the arts and her time in Germany, as well as her African American heritage. According to The Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org), "Dove’s work is known for its lyricism and beauty as well as its sense of history and political scope." The foundation also added that Emily Nussbaum noted in the New York Times how dance and poetry connect for Dove: “For Dove, dance is an implicit parallel to poetry. Each is an expression of grace performed within limits; each an art weighted by history but malleable enough to form something utterly new.”

Links to biography: http://people.virginia.edu/~rfd4b/ and http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/rita-dove