Nikki giovanni biography author study

Nikki Giovanni is an American poet whose work has made her one of the most important and renowned poets alive today. Giovanni was born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was raised near Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1960, Giovanni entered Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville.

Nikki giovanni biography author study guide

Soon, however, she began to clash with the university's Dean of Women over some of the university's rules, which Giovanni believed to be overly conservative. In February of 1961, after returning home for Thanksgiving without receiving the appropriate permission and then arguing with the Dean of Women about the university's rules, Giovanni was expelled.

She returned to Cincinnati to work, take classes at the University of Cincinnati, and help take care of her nephew, Christopher, until the fall of 1964, when the arrival of a new dean to Fisk allowed her to re-enroll at the university.

After graduating from Fisk in