| 1943 | Born on 7 June in Knoxville General Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee |
| 1949-52 | Giovanni completes the first, second, and third grades at Oak Avenue School, |
1952 Giovanni enters 4
th grade at St. Simon School
|
| 1968 | Borrows money to publish her first volume of poetry, Black Feeling Black Talk. Drops out of University of Pennsylvania but continues working at the Settlement House. Continues writing poems at a prodigious rate. Goes to Atlanta for funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated on 4 April. Receives grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Moves to New York City where she begins almost immediately to attract attention. Enrolls in an M. F. A. program at Columbia University’s School of Fine Arts. At the very end of the year, uses money made from sales of Black Feeling Black Talk and a grant from the Harlem Arts Council to privately publish her second volume of poetry, Black Judgement; Broadside Press offers to distribute it. |
| 1970 | Edits and privately publishes Night Comes Softly, one of the earliest anthologies of poetry by black women; it includes poems by new and relatively unknown writers as well as poems by such established poets as Margaret Walker and Mari Evans. Establishes NikTom, Ltd. Meets Ellis Haizlip (1929-91) and begins making regular appearances on his television program, Soul!, an entertainment/variety/talk show which promoted black art and culture and allowed political expression. (During the history of the show–1967-72–which aired on WNET, many important artists and leaders made appearances, including Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Gladys Knight, Miriam Makeba, and Stevie Wonder. Giovanni was for several years a "regular" on the show.) Giovanni publishes Black Feeling Black Talk/Black Judgement as one volume with William Morrow Publisher. Publishes Re: Creation with Broadside Press. Writes and publishes the broadside, "Poem of Angela Yvonne Davis." Has become a recognized figure on the black literary scene; in the anthology We Speak As Liberators, published in this year, she is referred to as an "established name." Ebony magazine names her Woman of the Year.
|
| 1974-77 | Publishes A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker (1974) and The Women and the Men (1975). Releases the albums The Way I Feel (1975), Legacies (1976), and The Reason I Like Chocolate (1976). Receives honorary doctorates from Ripon University, the University of Maryland/Princess Anne Campus, and Smith College. Continues to write essays for Encore American & World-Wide News. Lectures extensively at colleges and universities across the country. Travels to Rome for the United Nations’ First World Food Conference (1974).
|
| 1989-91 | Accepts permanent position as tenured Full Professor of English at Virginia Tech. Relocates to Blacksburg, Virginia. Edits an anthology by her Warm Hearth writers group, Appalachian Elders: A Warm Hearth Sampler. Receives honorary doctorate from Indiana University. Attends Utrecht International Poetry Festival as the featured poet. "Two Friends" is incorporated as a permanent tile wall exhibit by the Oxnard Public Library in California. Son Thomas enrolls in Morehouse College. Continues to lecture on campuses across the country during the spring. Serves on the Advisory Board of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy (1990-96),
| 2000-01 | Receives NAACP Image Award for Blues: For All the Changes (2000). Wins the 2000 Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts. Receives honorary doctorates from Manhattanville College, State University of West Georgia (2000) and Central State University (2001). Named to The Gihon Foundation’s 2000 Council of Ideas. Serves as poetry judge for the National Book Awards (2000). Receives Certificate of Commendation from the United States Senate (2000). Serves on the Board of Trustees of Cabrini College (2001-03). Serves on the Board of Directors of Mill Mountain Theater (of Roanoke, Virginia) (2001- ).
| 2008-2009 | Publishes Lincoln and Douglas: An American Friendship with illustrator—Bryan Collier. Edits Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat, which wins an NAACP Image Award. Recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Dillard University. Wins Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Dedication and Commitment to Service from Lehigh University. Records her poem "Ego Tripping" on the compilation CD Fly Girls! B-boys Beware: Revenge of the Super Female Rappers! Publishes Bicycles: Love Poems. |
|
|
|
|
http://nikki-giovanni.com/timeline.shtml