Rita Dove

Rita Dove

Rita Dove was born on August 28th, 1952 and is currently 73 years old. Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio.

Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for the Library of Congress. She was the first African American chosen for this role since it became an official position in 1986.

In 1999, during the Library of Congress's 200th anniversary, she was also named a “special consultant in poetry.” In 1987, she became the second African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She later served as Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006.

She has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville since 1989. Dove was the Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020. In 2020, she became the Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.

The Darker Face of the Earth is the first full-length play by Rita Dove. It is a tragic story inspired by the Greek myth of Oedipus, set on a plantation in South Carolina before the Civil War. The play tells a powerful tale of interracial love and family secrets. It has been read on Broadway and performed at major venues, including The Kennedy Center, The National Theatre in London, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Another outstanding work is Selected Poems of Rita Dove. This single volume brings together some of her finest poetry. It includes poems from The Yellow House on the Corner, a collection with strong themes of slavery and freedom. It also contains poems from Museum, which reflects on home, memory, and the wider world, and the Pulitzer-winning Thomas and Beulah, a set of poems inspired by the lives of her grandparents.

These poems are clear and carefully written, yet filled with emotion, and capture the voices of ordinary people, telling stories with compassion and beauty. Selected Poems of Rita Dove shows why Rita Dove’s work has touched so many readers and why her voice continues to be an essential part of American literature.

Rita Dove: Awards & Accolades

Rita Dove won the Library of Virginia, Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2008.

Rita Dove: Lists & Other Mentions

• The 1619 Project was the Black Men Read Book Club December 2021 Pick.
• The 1619 Project was a New York Times: #1 Nonfiction Best Seller in 2021 and 2022.
• Playlist for the Apocalypse was a New York Times: 100 Notable Books Selection in 2021.

Related Authors

Fans of Rita Dove also enjoy these authors:

1. Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
2. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher Series.
3. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of: The Hound of the Baskervilles.
4. Leo Tolstoy, author of: Anna Karenina.
5. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.

Rita Dove: F.A.Q