U.S. Poet Laureate, 1993-1995
Special Bicentennial Consultant, 1999-2000
Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1952. She is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Thomas and Beulah (1986), winner of the Pulitzer Prize; On the Bus with Rosa Parks (1999), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and, most recently, Collected Poems 1974-2004 (2016). Furthermore, she has written a book of short stories, a novel, a play, and is the editor of two volumes of poetry. From 1993-1995, Dove was appointed the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She was also appointed the Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2004-2006 and a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets for five years. Her other honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, the National Humanities Medal, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, and the National Medal of Arts. Since 1989, Dove has taught at the University of Virginia, where she is currently the Commonwealth Professor of English.
Audio Recordings with Rita Dove
- As part of Poetry in English at the Library of Congress, Rita Dove and Edward Hirsch reading their poems on October 28, 1986
- As part of Poetry in English at the Library of Congress, Rita Dove reading from her poetry on October 7, 1993
- Rita Dove reading her poems in the Montpelier Room, May 4, 1995