The Biography of Nikki Giovanni

Yolande Cornelia “NikkI” Giovanni, Jr. was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tenn. but grew up in

Lincoln Heights which is a suburb in Cincinnati, Ohio. She later went back to Knoxville in 1958 to live
with her grand-parents.

Nikki Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. She is one of the

world's most well-known African-American poets. She also writes poetry anthologies, poetry
recordings, nonfiction essays, and children's literature. She has won many awards such as the Langston Hughes Medal, the NAACP Image Award, nominated for a Grammy Award, and has been named as one of Oprah Winfrey’s twenty-five “Living Legends.”

She began her professional career at Livingston College of Rutgers University in 1969, and since 1987 she has taught writing and literature at Virginia Tech where she is a University Distinguished Professor. Nikki Giovanni is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star(PHA) and is an Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In 2015 Giovanni was named one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to poetry, education, and society