Born: 28 August 1952, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
An eminent figure in American poetry. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress. Notably, she was the first African American to hold this role since ’86. During the Library of Congress’s bicentennial (’99-’00), she held the title of “special consultant in poetry.” She was also honored as the second African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in ’87. In Virginia, she assumed the role of Poet Laureate from ’04 to ’06. An educator since ’89 at UVA, she held the positions of Commonwealth Professor of English (’93-’20) and Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing (’20 onwards).
Prominent Works:
– Thomas and Beulah
– The Darker Face of the Earth
– Sonata Mulattica
– Playlist for the Apocalypse
Distinguished Awards:
– Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1987)
– United States Poet Laureate (1993–95)
– Poet Laureate of Virginia (2004–06)
– 1996 National Humanities Medal
– 2011 National Medal of Arts
– 2019 Wallace Stevens Award
– 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal
– 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
– 2022 Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry