Women’s History Month’s Feature: Rita Dove, Poet, Playwright, and Essayist

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, poet and essayist, Rita Dove. In 1987, she received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Thomas and Beulah, a collection of poems loosely based on the lives of her maternal grandparents. In 1993, she was named United States Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress, a position she held until 1995. She has won several awards and collaborated on many creative projects including a live reading at the Lincoln Memorial, accompanied by John Williams’ music – a poem to Steven Spielberg’s documentary The Unfinished Journey. 

Some of her other notable works include her play The Darker Face of the Earth that premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon in 1996 and premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1999; her poetry collections - Sonata Mulattica published in 2009 and Playlist for the Apocalypse published in 2021; and various short stories and essays. Check out her quote about being true to yourself. #womenshistorymonth #poet #poetry #PoetLaureate #literature #essayist #PulitzerPrizeforPoetry #playwright #creativewritingprofessor #RitaDove #vocalexpressions