Dove's latest collection of poetry, Sonata Mulattica, was published in April 2009.ĭove married Fred Viebahn, a German-born writer in 1979. Dove contributed - in a live reading at the Lincoln Memorial, accompanied by John Williams's music - a poem to Steven Spielberg's documentary The Unfinished Journey. For 'America's Millennium', the White House's 1999/2000 New Year's celebration, Ms. She collaborated with composer John Williams on the song cycle 'Seven for Luck' (first performance: Boston Symphony, Tanglewood, 1998, conducted by the composer). In 1994 she published a play The Darker Face of the Earth revised stage version 1996), which premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon in 1996 (first European production: Royal National Theatre, London, 1999). In addition to her poetry, she has published short stories ( Fifth Sunday, 1985), essays ( The Poet's World, 1995), and a novel Through the Ivory Gate (1992). Her most famous work to date is Thomas and Beulah, published by Carnegie-Mellon University Press in 1986, a collection of poems loosely based on the lives of her maternal grandparents, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize in 1987. As Poet Laureate of Virginia, she also brought together writers to explore the African diaspora through the eyes of its artists. In her public posts, Dove concentrated on spreading the word about poetry and increasing public awareness of the benefits of literature. In 2004 then-governor Mark Warner of Virginia appointed her to a 2-year position as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since 1989 she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she holds the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English.ĭove served as Special Bicentennial Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress in 1999/2000, along with Louise Glück and W. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.ĭove taught creative writing at Arizona State University from 1981 to 1989.

In 1974 she attended Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship.ĭove in 2012. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1977. from Miami University in 1973, and received an M.F.A. In 1970 Dove graduated from Buchtel High School as a Presidential Scholar, putting her into the 100 top American high school graduates of that year.ĭove graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. tire industry (as research chemist at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company), and Elvira (Hord), who achieved honors in high school and would share her passion for reading with her daughter. Dove was born in Akron, Ohio to Ray Dove, the 1st African-American chemist to work in the U.S.

Rita dove daughter