January 20 — Poet Nikki Giovanni at MLK dinner
Grammy-nominated poet Nikki Giovanni erupted into the nation’s conscience and consciousness because of the Virginia Tech tragedy.
When: Sunday January 20. 5:00-8:00 PM
Where: Hyatt Regency downtown One South Capitol Avenue Indianapolis
This formal dinner is hosted by the IUPUI Black Student Union. Tickets are $24 for IUPUI undergraduate students, and $40 for Community members, faculty etc. For more information and tickets please contact Tiffany Reed at tinreed@iupui.edu. For more information about the event, go here.
Giovanni has been teaching writing and literature at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA since 1987, and is a Distinguished Professor of English. Giovanni taught the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho in a poetry class. She described him as downright “mean” and, when she approached the department chair to have Cho taken out of her class, said she was willing to resign rather than continue teaching him. She also claimed that she immediately suspected that Cho might be the shooter when she heard about the shooting, and would have been shocked otherwise. On April 17, 2007, at the Virginia Tech Convocation commemorating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre, Giovanni closed the ceremony with a chant poem, intoning,:
We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech… We do not understand this tragedy… No one deserves a tragedy.
The civil rights and black power movements inspired her early poetry that was collected in Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970). She has since written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry, illustrated children’s books, and three collections of essays. In 2004 Giovanni was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Grammy in the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for her album “The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection.” She also featured on the track Ego Trip By Nikki Giovanni on Blackalicious’ 2000 album Nia. Giovanni was the 2007 recipient of The Chicago Public Library Foundation’s Carl Sandburg Literary Award for lifetime achievement. Giovanni is the first poet to be chosen for this honor, which is awarded annually. Giovanni gave a lecture on October 18, 2007, at the Chicago Public Library in part with their Author Series.
Know before you go … hear Nikki Giovanni’s speech at the Chicago public library.
If you think this event sounds interesting, check out … the “Cave Canem” poets Cornelius Eady and Mitchell L.H. Douglas on March 27.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:24 am
[…] February 20 — Poet Nikki Giovanni at MLK dinner. Grammy-nominated poet Nikki Giovanni erupted into the nation’s conscience and consciousness because of the Virginia Tech tragedy. check it out […]
January 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
[…] this January, including the Peace Learning Center’s family friendly MLK fest January 19, poet Nikki Giovanni’s talk at the IUPUI Black Student Union’s formal dinner January 20 … and on January 21 take […]