Rita Dove
Rita Dove
Rita Frances Doveis an American poet and author. From 1993 to 1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African-American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position. Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth28 August 1952
CityAkron, OH
For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about it. I failed to understand how people could fail to be moved by art.
It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.
I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.
I loved to read, but I always thought that the dream was too far away. The person who had written the book was a god, it wasn't a person.
Have you ever heard a good joke? If you've ever heard someone just right, with the right pacing, then you're already on the way to poetry. It's about using words in very precise ways and using gesture.
One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who've gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits.
If you can't be free, be a mystery.
People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I found that immensely valuable.
I was appointed Poet Laureate. It came totally out of the blue because most Poet Laureates had been considerably older than I. It was not something that I even had begun to dream about!
Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make sure they get poetry in the curriculum early.
Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.
I carry a notebook with me everywhere. But that's only the first step.
There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
I've always been intrigued by the way history works, the way we decide what is mentioned.