About Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. 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 (1937–86). 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 to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020, she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.
Known for:
American Smooth|Thomas and Beulah|Sonata Mulattica|The Darker Face of the Earth
Notable works:
Prentice Hall Literature--Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes--The American Experience
Awards:
Fulbright Scholarship|Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize|Guggenheim Fellowship|National Humanities Medal|National Medal of Arts|Pulitzer Prize for Poetry|Heinz Award|Wallace Stevens Award|Ohio Women's Hall of Fame|honorary doctor of Harvard University|Charles Frankel Prize|honorary doctor of Yale University|honorary doctor of the University of Miami|Q110813485|honorary doctorate from Emory University|honorary degree from Spelman College
