National Poetry Month:
Celebrating the Poetry of Rita Dove
April 1, 2013 – April 30, 2013
National Poetry Month
Robert Frost said that “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Poet Margaret Walker describes people’s connection to poetry, “The poetry of a people comes from the deep recesses of the unconscious, the irrational and the collective body of our ancestral memories.”
This exhibition highlights poetry’s ongoing legacy and numerous cultural achievements of American Poets. In 1996, the Academy of American Poets established the month of April as National Poetry Month to emphasize poetry and its place in American Culture. This year the University of Delaware celebrates the poetry of Rita Dove.
Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Rita Dove served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995 and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She was the youngest person, and the first African–American, to receive this highest official honor. Dove has received numerous literary awards and academic honors, including the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, the Common Wealth Award, and the National Humanities Medal. Dove’s poetry is known for covering a wide–range of subjects with an emphasis on history and politics. She is currently Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Grace notes: poems. New York: Norton, 1989.
An accomplished musician, Dove combines her talents in her fourth book of poetry. The lyrical poems are a melodic exploration of the author’s life.
Lady Freedom among us. West Burke, Vermont: Janus Press, 1994.
This poem was read at the occasion of the return of the statue Freedom to the dome of the Capitol on 23 October 1993. This copy is autographed by both the author and the artists.
Mother love: poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995.
These poems examine the relationship between mother and daughter and the dilemma of letting go. Author’s autographed presentation copy.
Ten poems. Lisbon, Iowa: Penumbra Press, 1977.
Open to poems “The Abduction” and “The House Slave.”
Evening primrose. [West Chester, Pa.]: Aralia Press, .
There are 120 copies printed at Aralia Press from Romanee type on handmade Barcham Green paper.