 Rita DoveRita Frances Dove was
born in Akron August 28, 1952. She is a product of Akron Public Schools, graduating from
Buchtel High School in 1970. As one of America’s Top 100 graduates that year, she was
named a Presidential Scholar and visited Washington, D.C. and the White House.
Dove earned a national merit scholarship and entered
Ohio’s Miami University in a pre-law program and with hopes of finally becoming a
doctor.
After some consideration and finding she had a love for
writing and poetry, Dove changed her major to English. She later received a Fulbright
fellowship and attended the University of Tübingen in West Germany. She wrote her first
book of poetry, The Yellow House on the Corner, in 1980. And, in 1987, her third
book, Thomas and Beulah, won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
In 1993, Rita Dove was named Poet Laureate, the first
African-American and, at 40 years of age, the youngest person ever to hold that post. Dove
was one few Poet Laureates to serve for two years.
In recent years, Dove has written fiction, a novel and a
play entitled, The Darker Faces of the Earth. For relaxation, Dove plays music,
both jazz and classical; and, she sings in operas near her home in Charlottesville,
Virginia.
Note: Rita Dove is the daughter of Ray
Dove, the first African-American chemist in the tire industry, who worked many years for
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. |
