1. “Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni
1/12/2019
Free Verse Poetry
“Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni
“Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni

2. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni
A daughter
A mother
A Black American poet
A professor of English

3. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943 as Yolande Cornelia Giovanni
Called Nikki by her sister
Graduated from Fisk University in 1968, while working with the school’s Writer’s Workshops, editing the literary magazine

4. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni
Later attended the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University
Published two books of poetry in 1968 , which launched her career as a poet.
Seen as an activist for African American civil rights through her poetry

5. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni
Earned twenty-five honorary degrees and numerous awards, including:
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Dedication and Commitment to Service in 2009
NAACP Image Awards for Literature
Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry
Currently teaches at Virginia Tech University as a distinguished professor

6. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni
Published more than fourteen volumes of poetry, including:
Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day
Black Judgment
My House
Love Poems
Wrote her free verse poem, “Knoxville, Tennessee” in 1994 about her own childhood

7. Free Verse Poem Does not necessarily rhyme.
Does not follow any set of rules, like other forms of poetry.
May or may not use conventions of punctuation or sentence structure.

8. Student Learning Goal
Today you will read the poem, “Knoxville, Tennessee,” by Nikki Giovanni.