US Poet Laureate Rita Dove visits IUSB

By EVA MONHAUT

Guest Writer

    Mark your calendars for Sept. 21 and 22 because U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove is visiting IU South Bend to answer your questions and read some of her poetry. Dove will be at IU South Bend at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21 in Wiekamp Hall 3001. On Saturday, Dove will be in the Louise D. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall at 7p.m.

    Dove made her poetry debut in 1980 releasing her collection “The Yellow House on the Corner.”

    Since her debut, Dove quickly went on to earn several esteemed medals including the Pulitzer Prize for her work “Thomas and Beulah” in 1986 and becoming a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 and 2009. Among other awards she has received are the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities and she received a National Humanities Medal in 1996.

    However, Dove’s work is not limited to poetry. Dove is also an acclaimed fiction writer. Some of her fiction works include “Fifth Sunday” and her play “The Darker Face of the Earth,” which was performed in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

    In 1993 Dove was named the U.S. Poet Laureate, the youngest and the first African American woman to ever hold the title.

    Currently Dove teaches at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She is the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English.