Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Professor

Nikki Giovanni

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Nikki Giovanni
Photograph: Mari Evans

NIKKI GIOVANNI is the author of thirteen books of poetry including Love Poems, for which she recieved an NAACP Image Award, and The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni holds the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry and has been names woman of the year by Mademoiselle, Ladies' Home Journal, and Essence. A gardener and consummate lover of the blues, Giovanni is a professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic.
(Bio. excerpted form inside back cover of Blues for All The Changes)

Acolytes: Poems
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Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (January 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061231312

A collection of eighty all new poems, ACOLYTES is distinctly Nikki Giovanni, but different. Not softened, but more inspired by love, celebration, memories and even nostalgia. She aims her intimate and sparing words at family and friends, the deaths of heroes and friends, favorite meals and candy, nature, libraries, and theatre. But in between, the deep and edgy conscience that has defined her for decades shines through when she writes about Rosa Parks, hurricane Katrina, and Emmett Till's disappearance, leaving no doubt that Nikki has not traded one approach for another, but simply made room for both.

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni
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ISBN: 0060541334
Format: Hardcover, 496pp
Pub. Date: November 2003
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

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The first of its kind, this omnibus collection covers Nikki Giovanni's complete work of poetry from three decades, 1968-1998. The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni contains Giovanni's first seven volumes of poetry: Black Feeling Black Talk, Black Judgment, Re: Creation, My House, The Women and the Men, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, and Those Who Ride the Night Winds. Arranged chronologically with a biographical timeline and introduction, a new afterword from the author, title and first-line indexes, and extensive notes to the poems, this collection is the testimony of a life's work - from one of America's most beloved daughters and powerful poets.

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems
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ISBN: 0060099526
Format: Hardcover, 128pp
Pub. Date: October 2002
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Edition Description: 1ST

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When Nikki Giovanni's poems first emerged during the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements of the 1960s, she immediately took a place among the most celebrated and influential poets of the era. Now, Giovanni continues to stand as one of the most commanding, luminous voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape.

In a career spanning over thirty years, Giovanni has created a body of work that's become vital and essential to our American consciousness. This collection of new poems is a masterpiece that explores the ecstatic union between self and community. Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea is an extraordinarily intimate collection. Each poem bears our revered cultural icon's trademark of the unfalteringly political and the intensely personal: The elegant "What We Miss" exalts the might and grace of women, while "Swinging on a Rainbow" rejoices about the spaces in which we read; Giovanni commemorates Africa and her family legacy in the majestic "Symphony of the Sphinx" and contemplates our America in the heartbreaking "Desperate Acts" and "9:11:01 He Blew It." And in the dreamy "Making James Baldwin" and dazzling "Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea," Giovanni gives us reason to comfort, to share, to love, to change and to be human.

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea is Nikki Giovanni's meditation on humanity and soul. It's her revelatory gaze at the world in which we live -- and her confession on the world she dreams we will one day call home. Nikki Giovanni is a national treasure as she once again confirms her place as one of America's most powerful truth tellers and beloved daughters.

The African American Audio Experience
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Format: Compact Disc - Abridged, 5 CDs
ISBN: 006053527X
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

The leading voices of African-American letters come together in this essential collection of poems, prose and theater performance.

One of the most significant occurrences in America during the 20th century was the rise of African-American writers to the forefront of literature. Documenting their views on American culture and its tragic and glorious history, African-American writers' contributions reflected their struggle for equality and paved the way into a brighter future for their country. This collection includes selections of some of the best of those works, with an original introduction by Nikki Giovanni:

Black Boy by Richard Wright. A classic of American autobiography, this subtly crafted narrative chronicles one man's coming of age in the Jim Crow South. Performed by Brock Peters.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. An emotionally lacerating landmark of American theater, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is presented here with a full cast performance starring Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

Excerpts from The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. A collection of poems from one of the most commanding voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape. Read by the author.

Excerpts from the "Tall Tales" Chapter of Every Tounge Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston. Collected in the 1920s, these stories pay tribute to the richness of Black vernacular and reflect -- with wit, wisdom, compassion, and style -- the sorrows and joys of the African-American heritage. Performed by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

Excerpts from Langston Hughes Reads. Arare and exceptional recording on one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century.

Three poems by Gwendolyn Brooks. "We Real Cool," "Malcolm X," and "The Sermon on the Warpland." Performed by Ruby Dee.

Blues: For All the Changes: New Poems
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ISBN: 0688156983
Format: Hardcover, 100pp
Pub. Date: April 1999
Publisher: Morrow,William & Co

Intimate, edgy, and unapologetic, Blues: For All the Changes bears the mark of Nikki Giovanni's unmistakable voice. In a career that has spanned three decades, Giovanni has created an indispensable body of work and earned a place among the nation's most celebrated and controversial poets. From the environment to our reliance on manners, from sex and politics to love among Black folk, Blues is a master-work with poems for every soul and every mood: The poignant "Stealing Home" pays tribute to Jackie Robinson, while "Road Rage Blues" jams on time and space: Giovanni celebrates love's absolute power in "Train Rides" and laments life's transience in "Me and Mrs. Robin." With the tenderness that has made her one of our most accessible and beloved poets, Giovanni evokes a world that is not only just but also happy.

Love Poems
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ISBN: 0688149898
Format: Hardcover, 96pp
Pub. Date: January 1997
Publisher: Morrow,William & Co

Giovanni received an NAACP Image Award for this title!

In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, Nikki Giovanni has earned the reputation as one of America's most celebrated and contoversial writers. Now, she presents a stunning collection of love poems that includes more than twenty new works.

From the revolutionary "Seduction" to the tender new poem, "Just a Simple Declaration of Love," from the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet" to the elegiac "All Eyez on U," written for Tupac Shakur, these poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which Nikki Giovanni is beloved and revered.

Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems expresses notions of love in ways that are delightfully unexpected. Articulating in sensuous verse what we know only instinctively, Nikki Giovanni once again confirms her place as one of our nations's most distinguished poets and powerful truth-tellers.In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, starting with her explosive early years in the Black Rights Movement, Nikki Giovanni has earned a reputation as one of America's most celebrated and controversial writers. Her mind-speaking work has made her a universal favorite and a number-one best-seller.The love poems-the revolutionary "Seduction," the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet," and the tender "My House" to name just a few-are among the most beloved of all Nikki Giovanni's works. Now, Love Poems brings together these and other favorites with over twenty new poems. Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems will once again confirm Nikki Giovanni's place among the country's most renowned poets and truth tellers.

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife
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Carleen Brice Editor & Pearl Cleage Contributor

ISBN: 0807028231
Number Of Pages: 252
Publication Date: May 15, 2003
Publisher: Beacon Press

"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is my roadmap."—Iyanla Vanzant

Forty-five black women writers—known and new—discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind.

Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.

Midlife today isn't your grandmother's "change of life." Today, black women call hot flashes "power surges," and menopause, the "pause that refreshes." These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the "return-to-the-nest syndrome" as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.

This anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring
the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift
book for spring.

Grand Mothers: Poems, Reminiscences, and Short Stories about the Keepers of Our Traditions

Such women as Gwendolyn Brooks, Mary Elizabeth King, Gloria Naylor, and Kyoko Mori celebrate the unique roles of grandmothers.

Review from BookList :
This anthology brings together writings about grandmothers. As Giovanni notes in her exceptionally readable introduction, "This is not a balanced book. We are mostly Southern, pan Asian, and black." All but one of the writers are women. Still, the diversity of ages, experiences, sentiments, and voices gives the book variety of style and viewpoint within its 27 stories, memories, and poems. Though the topic of grandmothers might be expected to bring out a certain sentimentality, the writers cut through the cliches to the basic human needs that grandmothers fill and the fundamental questions their lives and their memories raise in those who know them, remember them, or pass down their stories. Varied in quality, but still a unique collection of writings. -Carolyn Phelan

genie.bmp (13778 bytes) The Genie in the Jar
Nikki Giovanni's evocative, lyrical poem spins words of freedom, but warns against the pain it can bring. She weaves a glowing fabric on the black loom of language, colored with hopes and dreams. With hints of jazz and folktales and nursery rhymes, The Genie in the Jar is also a simple story of love. With illustrations by Chris Raschka, this poetic evocation of love and pride is as deep as the human heart. Full color.

Review or The Genie in the Jar from Kirkus :
A poem by Giovanni (Knoxville, Tennessee, 1994, etc.) for the singer Nina Simone becomes a luscious illustrated work with Raschka's watercolor, ink, and oil stick figures. Readers don't need to know anything about Simone to hear this book sing. ``Take a note and spin it around . . . don't prick your finger . . . take a note and spin it around on the Black loom . . . Take a genie and put her in a jar, wrap the sky around her.'' The vocabulary is simple, and fairly dances with images as Giovanni weaves her story of music and heart. The figures--a small girl, her mother, and a circle of women--swoop and curve like musical notes. The textured Fabriano paper backgrounds make the art seem to pop off the page; the colors are rich and warm, in shades of tea, chocolate, malt, cappucino, and butter, with a vibrant azure cloud. As is true of good poetry, this piece begs to be read aloud; as is true of fine art, it repays repeated examination. In the comforting rhythm of these pages, children will absorb a message of faith in the power of art leavened by love.

Ego-Tripping & Other Poems for Young People

Twenty years after the release of the first edition of this bestseller, poet Nikki Giovanni has added 10 new poems to the 22 that made up the original collection. Powerfully illustrated by George Ford, Ego-Tripping captures the essence of the African-American experience in ways that have special relevance and appeal for adolescents.

Review of Ego-Tripping from BookList :
younger for reading aloud. Giovanni has added 10 new poems to her acclaimed 1973 collection of 23 poems for young people. Ford's illustrations in sepia shades are bold and full of character and dreaming. As Virginia Hamilton says in her foreword, Giovanni's voice is personal and warm, she "celebrates ordinary folks" and writes of struggle and liberation. She's upbeat and celebratory without minimizing hard times. The publisher doesn't indicate which are the new poems, but, certainly, any library that doesn't have the original title will want to buy this one. These are poems that sing. Giovanni says, "if i were a poet / i'd kidnap you," and that's what she does. -Hazel Rochman