Quote of the Day- Rita Dove

Originally, we were going to quip the late playwright/poet August Wilson ("Fences") with Maya Angelou (see our sister entry in the blog "The Daily Vampire"), but we are going with a living poet Rita Dove who lives in Charlottesville, Va.

Since Virginia is my home state, and I still spend quit a bit of time there, I thought Dove would be a good choice, and her poetry_ especially regarding Civil Rights issues_ is quite exemplarary. Nikki Giovanni, another highly regarded African-American female poet, resides just down the proverbial road from Dove in Blacksburg, Va.

Here is the quote from Dove:

"Being true to yourself means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit."

Quote of the Week-Nikki Giovanni

The great poet Nikki Giovanni who is an English professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., is the subject of our Quote of the Week in honor of National Poetry Month and the upcoming third anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Giovanni gave one of the key speeches at the memorial services for the students and faculty who were killed on that fateful Monday morning.

Giovanni was our choice for Person of the Year for this blog in 2007:

"We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be tamed."

Quote of the Week- Nikki Giovanni

Today's Quote of the Week is once again one which we are devouting to Black History Month. It comes from poet Nikki Giovanni, also an English professor at Virginia Tech. We chose her as our "Person of the Year" in 2007. One of my foundest memories of being a newspaper reporter was having the chance to interview Giovanni when I worked for "The News-Messenger" in Christiansburg, Va.

Here is her quote:

"If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anyone else."

Quote of the Week- Nikki Giovanni

In honor of Black History Month, we have two quotes today from two black poets on our respective blogs. The late Langston Hughes is featured on "The Daily Vampire."

Here is one from Nikki Giovanni. The Virginia Tech literary teacher was our Person of the Year in 2007:

"We love because it's the only true adventure."