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American poet and writer Nikki Giovanni has died. The Langston Hughes Medal winner was 81.
Source: Nikki-Giovanni.com
Nikki died on Monday, December 9, 2024, in a hospital in Blacksburg, Virginia, US, with her partner, Virginia C. Fowler by her side. Her death came due to complications from lung cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer in the early 1990s.
Giovanni, who was born Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni Jr on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, chose writing to cope with the death of her grandmother, Louvenia Watson. Her writing journey, which began as a coping mechanism, turned her into “one of the most important artist-intellectuals of the twentieth century.”
Nikki gained recognition in the 1960s as an active member of the Black Arts Movement. In 1968, she self-published two books, Black Feeling Black Talk and Black Judgement. Until her death, she authored over 30 books ranging from children’s to poetry.
“I have been considered a writer who writes from rage and it confuses me. What else do writers write from? A poem has to say something. It has to make some sort of sense; be lyrical; to the point; and still be able to be read by whatever reader is kind enough to pick up the book.“
She wrote in a biographical sketch for Contemporary Writers.
Her last book titled The Last Book will be published in 2025.
Besides being involved in the Black Arts Movement, The Princess of Black Poetry was an English professor at Virginia Tech University. She retired in 2022 after 35 years as a teacher.
Nikki is survived by her partner, Virginia Fowler, and her only son, Thomas Watson Giovanni.
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