Rita Dove
Rita Dove was born in 1952, in
Akron, Ohio. She was educated at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Universitat Tubingen (West Germany), and the University of Iowa. Her first collection of of poems, The Yellow House on the Corner, was published in 1980, followed by Museum (1983), Thomas and Beulah (1986), for which she won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize, and Grace Notes (1989). Rita Dove is the first African-American to serve as Poet Laureate (1993-1995) of the United States. At forty, she is also the youngest person to ever hold that post. After eight years on the faculty of Arizona State University, Rita is now commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband and daughter. She credits her own love of poetry to her parents who encouraged her to read whatever she wanted.
Degrees
B.A. (summa cum laude) Miami 1973, M.F.A. Iowa 1977, D. Litt. (Hon), Miami U.-1988, Know College-1989, Tuskegee U.-1994, U. of Miami-1994, Washington U.-1994, Case Western Reserve U.-1994, U. of Akron-1994, Arizona State U.-1995, Dartmouth College-1995, Spelman College-1996, U of Penn.-1996, U. North Carolina/Chapel Hill-1997, U. Notre Dame-1997, Northeastern U.-1997, Columbia U.-1998.
On the Bus with Rosa Parks (poems). Forthcoming from W.W. Norton, April 1999.
Det Rosa Er I Oss
(selected poems in Norwegian translation). Det Norske Samlaget, 1996.Mother Love (poems). W.W. Norton, 1995.
The Darker Face of the Earth (verse drama). Story Line Press, 1994 and 1996.
Lady Freedom Among Us (poem). Janus Press, 1994. (commissioned by the U. of Virginia Library as its four-millionth volume)
Selected Poems .Pantheon/Vintage, 1993.
Selected Poems (audio book). Random House, 1993.
Through the Ivory Gate (novel). Pantheon Books, 1992.
Grace Notes (poems). W.W. Norton, 1989.
Die morgenlandische Tanzerin (selected poems in German translation). Heiderhoff Verlag, 1988.
Thomas and Beulah (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1986.
Fifth Sunday (short stories). Callaloo Fiction Series, 1985.
Museum (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1983.
The Yellow House on the Corner (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1980.
Plays
The Darker Face of the Earth. Premiered at Oregon Shakespear Festival, July, 1996. Production at Crossroads Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, and the Kenedy Center, Washington, D.C., Oct./Nov. 1997.
Evaluation
Her work is not only educational about Black history, but it inspires the reader. Her poems are not exclusive, but are inclusive because they deal with humanity and social awareness. When I read her work, I can see "the front porch" and imagine being there on the street looking at the house. The reader gets real insight into Rita's family and history of her country. Her talent is broad because she writes fiction as well as poetry. Her meanings are subtle, but very effective and allows the reader to feel involved. These
poems illustrates my point.
This page last updated 4/26/1999
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