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
It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.
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.
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.
When I was young, I was older than I am today.
If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level.
Libraries are where it all begins.
I grew up in Ohio, where civil-rights accomplishments had already begun to accelerate before Martin Luther King appeared. In hindsight, we know that many people, black and white, were instrumental in changing the Jim Crow status quo on all levels.
I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on.
Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we are called upon to be more.
In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover things