Poet Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943. Although she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she and her sister returned to Knoxville each summer to visit their grandparents. Nikki graduated with honors in history from her grandfather's alma mater, Fisk University. Since 1987, she has been on the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor.

When Nikki Giovanni's poems first emerged from the Black Rights Movement in the 1960s, she immediately took her place among the most celebrated and controversial poets of the era. She remains today one of the commanding voices gracing Americas political and poetic landscape.

Throughout her career, Giovanni has written words that last. Her distinctive style presents the truth, committing passion to the fight for social justice. Her autobiography, Gemini, was a finalist for the National Book Award; Love Poems, Blues: For All the Changes, and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea were all honored with NAACP Image Awards. Her childrens picture book, Rosa, about civil rights legend Rosa Parks, became a Caldecott Honors Book and a New York Times bestseller. Her Racism 101 is part of college curricula, offering a bold and compelling portrait of Americans on all sides of the race issue.

Giovanni is the recipient of a NAACP Image Award, Langston Hughes Medal for poetry and the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award. She has been named woman of the year by Mademoiselle, The Ladies Home Journal, and Ebony. Oprah has called her one of the twenty-five living legends.

For Giovanni, writing is life. Im not trying to tell people what to do or what to think or none of that. Im not a leader. Im not a guru. Im just a poet looking at the world.