Famed poet and retired Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni died Monday. Giovanni was 81 years old.
Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1943. Giovanni graduated from Fisk University. She was a prominent figure in the Black Arts and Civil Rights Movements. She inspired generations of students, artists, activists and scholars. Her works were known around the world and delved into social issues, race and gender.
Giovanni joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1987. She retired from the English department in 2022.
A statement from her family said she died peacefully with her life-long partner Virginia Fowler by her side.
"We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world,” fellow poet and family friend Kwame Alexander said in the statement.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Virginia Tech president Timothy Sands said “her spirit endures through her words and the students she inspired to express themselves through writing and poetry. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by her Hokie family.”
