Poet Nikki Giovanni Visits Concord University

Nikki Giovanni (Left) and Porsha Thompson (Right) after Giovanni’s presentation.
Photo By Porsha Thompson

At 1:00 P.M. on Monday, November 7, Dr. Nikki Giovanni presented a lecture at Concord University’s Athens campus in the Alexander Fine Arts Center. Giovanni received the NAACP Image Award for “Blues: For All the Changes” published in 2000. She is a world-renowned poet and was named to The Gihon Foundation’s 2000 Council of Ideas. She also serves as a poetry judge for the National Book Awards.

     Giovanni also received a Certificate of Commendation from the United States Senate and she served on the Board of Trustees of Cabrini College (2001-03). She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Mill Mountain Theater of Roanoke, Virginia.

    Porsha Thompson was excited to meet Giovanni for weeks in advance. Thompson spoke on her experience saying, “It was great. Like, you know everything that she talked about just pleased my ears. She’s a very intelligent woman, a very wise woman. And she just shared her wisdom with everybody that came, and inspired us to be who we wanted to be, do what we wanted to do, and dream big. And if people don’t like what we have to say or what we decide to do, who cares? Because it is our life and not theirs.”

     Thompson continued, “And she was very nice. One thing she said is she is not friendly. [She said] She is pleasant, but she is not friendly. Because not many people like that, like strangers walking up to them even though they are, you know, iconic. Saying, ‘Hey, can I have a picture with you?’ And I did it, and she let me have a picture with her, which I just thought was amazing. But, she is just a down-to-earth type of person. It was a wonderful experience, and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

    Thompson is a long-time Giovanni fan stating, “All of her poetry I end up buying, the collective poetry of Nikki Giovanni. So, every single thing that she’s written.” And Thompson was also impressed with the turnout at the event. “There was a fair amount, I would say. I know the middle section was pretty filled. And then like the first few rows of the side sections were filled.”

    Professor Lindsey Mullins-Akers was also in attendance. Akers stated, “I felt that Nikki Giovanni was very genuine, and that she wrote from the heart. She was also eager to interact with the students on the university level.”

     According to her website, www.nikki-giovanni.com, “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.”

    Giovanni states, “I was asked to do a biography so this is it.  I am 71 years old.  I highly recommend old age; it’s fun.  I have been awarded an unprecedented seven NAACP Image Awards which makes me very, very proud.  I have been nominated for a Grammy; been a finalist for the National Book Award.  I am very proud to have authored 3 New York Times and Los Angeles Times Best Sellers, highly unusual for a poet.”

    She continues, “I am a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech.  I don’t have a lot of friends, but I have good ones.  I have a son and a granddaughter.  My father, mother, sister and middle aunt are all deceased literally making me go from being the baby in the family to being an elder.  I like to cook, travel and dream.  I’m a writer.  I’m happy. My dream was not to publish or to even be a writer:  my dream was to discover something no one else had thought of.  I guess that’s why I’m a poet.  We put things together in ways no one else does.”