Nikki Giovanni has passed away at age 81.
The acclaimed poet reportedly passed away peacefully with her lifelong partner, Virginia Fowler, by her side after battling cancer for the third time. Giovanni was born Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943, and worked as an English professor at Virginia Tech.
Kwame Alexander, a poet, said in a statement, “We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world.”
She has won multiple awards and honors throughout her career, including the 2024 Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project. She was a cultural icon during the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movement. Along the way, she became friends with James Baldwin, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone.
In 1968, Nikki Giovanni published her first poetry collection, Black Feeling Black Talk, where she wrote about the intersections of politics, love, race, and loneliness. After her writing career took off, she became a regular guest on the Black arts and culture talk show Soul! Her conversation with Baldwin on that show would make her become “Woman of the Year” by Ebony magazine and Mademoiselle.
Nikki Giovanni kept working until her final days. Her last book of poetry, The Last Book, is set to come out next year. We will keep her family and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.