Poet Giovanni headlines HUES Conference

WHEN: March 18, 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: Newcomb Hall

Poet Nikki Giovanni will give the keynote public talk at the annual HUES Black Women’s Leadership Conference, which aims to empower black women and strengthen the community of black women at U.Va., in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas. The event is sponsored by the Women’s Center.

Giovanni, a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, has written 12 collections of poetry including “Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems,” which received the American Library Association’s Black Caucus Award for Non-fiction. Giovanni’s accolades include having been named Woman of the Year by Ebony Magazine, Mademoiselle Magazine and Ladies Home Journal; receiving the Governor’s Award for the Arts from both Tennessee and Virginia; serving as a poetry panel judge for the National Book Awards; and winning the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998, 2000 and 2003.