Behind Visions & Verse
The Extraordinary Rita Dove
Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio in 1952. A 1970 Presidential Scholar, she attended Miami University of Ohio, Universität Tübingen in Germany, and the University of Iowa, where she earned her creative writing MFA in 1977. In 1987 she received the Pulitzer Prize for her third collection of poetry, Thomas and Beulah, and from 1993 to 1995 she served as U.S. Poet Laureate at the Library of Congress.
The World At Your Fingertips
My first experience with newspapers took place while sitting comfortably on my grandfather’s lap in the small town of Wellington, Ohio. There, he would read to me, starting with the bold headlines, and then moving on to the various articles that discussed the day’s significant events. After we finished with the news, which often sparked our conversations, it was time to turn our attention to the comic section.
The Rare Magic that was Nikki
Nikki Giovanni died yesterday.
Everyone Is (or can be) a Poet
Benjamin Bannaker (sometimes spelled Banneker) was a talented mathematician, astronomer, and writer, recognized as one of the first important African American intellectuals.
A Long Journey
I recently discovered this profound poem by the renowned poet John Greenleaf Whittier, written in the year 1862, during a tumultuous period when America was embroiled in a devastating war with itself over the deeply polarizing issue of slavery.
Winter Visions & Verse
King & Hughes: An Incorruptible Friendship
For These Trying Times
