Nikki Giovanni (1943–2024)

I love Nikki Giovanni so much that when I found out this tiny book was going to be a part of Independent Bookstore Day, I knew I had to rush out and get a copy, even if it meant interrupting my sacred Dewey's Readathon to do it. This was an excellent decision.

I picked this book up to read on a day when I was unreasonably cranky for no obvious reason, hoping it would adjust my attitude for me, and OH GOODNESS, DID IT EVER. Nikki Giovanni is a treasure, and as soon as I put this down I made show more sure to go follow Glory Edim everywhere I wasn't already following her.

Listen. ALL OF NIKKI GIOVANNI'S OPINIONS ARE CORRECT. This is a wide-ranging conversation, as advertised, but I would follow her wherever she goes. From Vice President Harris to the fuckability of Frederick Douglas to space to living in the Appalachias to learning Chinese to her own poetry to Kanye...

This tiny book is a gem. show less

The subtitle is more descriptive of the content of this engaging book than the title. There is a wealth of material, ranging from classic poems by Langston Hughes (several of them read by Hughes on the accompanying CD), Lucille Clifton, Eloise Greenfield, Maya Angelou, Walter Dean Myers, Jacqueline Woodson and others, to modern hip-hop and rap. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is also included, both in the book and on the CD, with a performance in response by Giovanni show more and two of the advisory editors. Hope Anita Smith’s recitation of her “Audition” is quiet and hauntingly beautiful. All of the poems emphasize the beat and draw on African-American tradition; they are richly and effectively illustrated by a corps of young illustrators whose biographical sketches are appended. Listening to the CD completes the experience. The variety of poetic forms and performance styles (sometimes elucidated on the CD, as well is in Giovanni’s introduction) makes this collection an excellent source of material not found together elsewhere. (Poetry anthology. 7-12)

-Kirkus Review show less

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni 1968-1998 hit me in ways I didn’t quite expect. One minute I felt challenged and the next comforted. Giovanni offers a beautiful ride that made me think, feel, and go numb at various points. I enjoyed Giovanni’s style of expressing both hard truths and easy familiarity, sometimes within the same poem. The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni covered a wide span of her life’s work and demonstrates her growth over that time, as both a writer and a show more human being participating in the world. Giovanni’s poetry serves as a reminder that the work of becoming better citizens of the world, our communities, and our families as well as seeing the humanity within each of us, individually and collectively, is ongoing. The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni explores the state of life from the personal to the international in poems that are a mix of blunt, suggestive, honest, and subversive. show less

Giovanni has written poems which stop my breath, drive emotion into my throat, and force me to reread or relisten to them immediately--more than once. She's written poems I've felt driven to teach and to share. Her words are often that powerful.

By that standard, which she set for herself, I'm not sure this particular collection will live on in my mind--in some ways, it's a memorial and commentary on our current world, including prose works, more so than what I'd normally expect when picking show more up a collection by her or any other poet. And yet, there are many, many poems here which ring with power and demand to be read and re-read.

I will always recommend Giovanni's work. This may not be my favorite collection from her, but I'm still thankful to have read it and lived with it for the breadth of the work. show less