Giovanni
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Poet and essayist Nikki Giovanni will visit IU Kokomo on Sunday and Monday, Nov. 16–17, and students, staff and faculty from around the state are invited to attend public events surrounding her visit.
The School of Arts and Sciences on the Kokomo campus is co-sponsoring her visit, along with the Office of Campus Climate and Umoja, a student multicultural organization.
A public reception is planned Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. in Alumni Hall on the Kokomo campus.
On Nov. 17 at 10 a.m., the poet will lecture at the Kelley Student Center. Professors from other IU campuses who wish to bring groups of students to the lecture are asked to call Catherine Barnes, Office of Campus Climate, at 765-455-9359, so that a large enough venue for the presentation will be planned. Those wishing to have lunch at the IU Kokomo Art Gallery after the lecture may purchase tickets by calling the same number. Lunch tickets are $15.
Giovanni’s writing spans 30 years, from her first book in 1968 to her most recent collection, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea, released last year. Growing out of the civil rights and black arts movements of the 1960s, Giovanni’s poems connect literature with politics and call for a revolutionary interpretation of experience through a black consciousness. In 1996, she received the Langston Hughes Award for arts and letters, presented by the City College of the City University of New York in honor of the Harlem poet and playwright. Other Hughes award winners include James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ralph W. Ellison, Alice Walker and Maya Angelou.
“Bringing Nikki Giovanni to the campus is a way of exposing people of all races, genders, ethnicities and ages to the realities of the times,” said Jessie Dillard, president of Umoja. “What she has done gives people a time to reflect on how our world is ever changing, but also how some things might still be the same.”
The author addressed the 1994 Enhancing Minority Attainment conference at IU Kokomo, and taught several courses in creative writing and African-American literature on campus in summer 1995.
“We are tremendously fortunate to spend some time with her once again,” said Karla Stouse, an IU Kokomo lecturer in English. “Nikki is one of the most well-read, knowledgeable, articulate individuals I have ever met. The truth she speaks challenges and enlightens her readers and listeners. Whether we agree or disagree with her, she teaches us.”
Giovanni also has been the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Literature. Currently, she is a professor of English and the Gloria D. Smith Professor of black studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
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