New York Times features interactive "close read" interpretation of Rita Dove's "American Smooth"

August 04, 2023

On August 4, 2023, The New York Times published Dwight Garner's brilliant interactive "close read" interpretation of Rita Dove's poem "American Smooth".

It's the third time that the NYT included poetry in its "Closer Look at Art" series, after Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" in 2021 and W.H. Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts" in 2022.

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"Exit" Featured in UVA's "Thoughts from the Lawn"

January 19, 2023

Lifetime Learning at UVA is honored to highlight three poems from Rita Dove on their blog Thoughts from the Lawn. "Exit" is featured this month (January 2023). To see the post, please visit this link!
Rita Dove Awarded Bobbitt Prize for Lifetime Achievement

November 15, 2022

The Library of Congress will award the 2022 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry to former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove for lifetime achievement and to Heid E. Erdrich for her poetry collection “Little Big Bully.”

The poets will receive their honors and read selections from their work on Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. during Live at the Library at the Thomas Jefferson Building. The reading is free and open to the public. Free timed-entry passes are required to enter the Thomas Jefferson Building. Timed-entry passes will provide entry to the author program in Room LJ-119.

The 2022 Bobbitt prizes were awarded for the most distinguished book of poetry published in the preceding two years, 2020 and 2021, and for lifetime achievement in poetry. Erdrich’s book was published by Penguin Books in 2020. Dove is the author of 11 books of poetry, most recently “Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems,” published by W. W. Norton and Company in 2021. The 2022 prize marks the 17th time the award has been given.

For more information, please visit this link!
Rita Dove Wins Library of Virginia Award!

October 17, 2022

Rita Dove, Carolyn Eastman and Jocelyn Nicole Johnson were the top winners at the 25th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards on Saturday.

Best-selling author Adriana Trigiani hosted the celebration, with Virginia author and culinary historian Michael W. Twitty as the featured speaker.

The Pulitzer prize-winning poet and former poet laureate Rita Dove won the poetry award for her book "Playlist for the Apocalypse," her first volume of new poems in 12 years. Dove is the Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia.

For more information about the Awards ceremony, including the full list of winners, please visit this link!
Virginia Literary Awards Panel Discussion: Poetry featuring Rita Dove

October 06, 2022

Virginia author and executive director of James Madison University's Furious Flower Poetry Center Lauren K. Alleyne moderates a discussion with poetry award finalists Sandra Beasley, author of "Made to Explode"; Rita Dove, author of "Playlist for the Apocalypse"; and Tina Parker, author of "Lock Her Up."

The winners will be announced during the 25th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration in person at the Library of Virginia (Richmond, VA) on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022.
Rita Dove Honored with Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement

September 08, 2022

The Poetry Foundation is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Pegasus Awards, a family of literary prizes that include the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Young People’s Poet Laureate, and the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism. The winners will be honored at an awards ceremony in Chicago in October.

In recognition of Poetry magazine’s 110th anniversary, the Poetry Foundation has decided to award 10 additional Ruth Lilly Poetry Prizes this year, resulting in $1,132,500 in prizes distributed to the 2022 winners. It is the greatest prize amount that the Foundation has ever awarded to a cohort of living poets at one time.

“We’re celebrating 110 years of Poetry magazine this year, and approaching 20 years of the Poetry Foundation in 2023. We wanted to do something special to mark these milestones by honoring an outstanding cohort of writers whose work has brought comfort and inspiration to so many,” said Poetry Foundation president, Michelle T. Boone. “Poetry shows us the way forward, and there is no poetry without the imagination and talent of those behind the pen.”

Honoring 11 Living Legends
The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is annually awarded to one living US poet with an award of $100,000 in recognition of their outstanding lifetime achievement; it is one of the most prestigious awards given to American poets, and one of the nation’s largest literary prizes.

In honor of the 110th anniversary of Poetry and in alignment with the goals announced in its new Strategic Plan, the Poetry Foundation is awarding 11 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prizes in 2022. The decision not only commemorates a historic milestone for the Foundation and magazine, but celebrates a diversity of backgrounds and styles from poets whose contributions to culture warrant the same recognition afforded to artists in other forms.

For more information, including the full list of honorees, please visit this link.
Sun Valley Writers' Conference Talk by Rita Dove Now Available to Stream

August 26, 2022

Rita Dove's "A Poetry Reading," one of two readings she gave at the Sun Valley Writers' Conference (SVWC), is now available to stream on the SVWC website! To access, please visit svwc.com and click on "Watch & Listen" at the top of the page (note: you will need to fill out a brief form before you can access the video).
Rita Dove Nominated for Library of Virginia Award

August 17, 2022

Nine finalists, including Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, have been selected for the 25th annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards.

The awards honor Virginia writers and their contributions to literature. The finalists were chosen by an independent panel of judges from more than 108 submissions.

The winner in each category will be selected from among the finalists and announced during a celebration at the Library of Virginia on Oct. 15.

“We are thrilled to celebrate diverse works by Virginia authors or about Virginia topics for the 25th year,” said Librarian of Virginia’s Sandra Treadway. “This event has become a highly anticipated annual tradition for both book lovers and authors enthused about recognizing literary excellence in our commonwealth.”

For the full list of nominees, please visit this link.
Rita Dove Awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Iowa

May 18, 2022

On May 13, 2022, Rita Dove received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Iowa, where she received her MFA in 1977 (Iowa Writers Workshop). It's her 29th honorary degree to date! The full graduate doctoral commencement ceremony is now available on YouTube; Ms. Dove receives her honor beginning at 10:50.
Rita Dove in Conversation with Amanda Gorman for Authors Guild Foundation Gala

May 10, 2022

The 30th Annual Authors Guild Foundation Gala honored Amanda Gorman with the AGF Award for Literature with Social Impact on May 9, 2022. As part of the celebration, Rita Dove and Amanda Gorman conversed about the legacy and impact of poetry today.

For the full Gala video, please visit this link!
Rita Dove and "Thomas and Beulah" Featured on Talk of Iowa

April 22, 2022
To listen to the episode, visit this link!

Published in 1986, Thomas and Beulah is a poetry collection, that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, inspired by the lives of Rita Dove's grandparents.

Dove grew up in Ohio but spent time in Iowa earning her MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1977. She has since become one of the most celebrated poets in American History. Dove was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 1993 and was the first Black American to fill that role. She has received the National Humanities Medal, the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her most recent work is Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems, released in 2021. Dove joins host Charity Nebbe for this Talk of Iowa Book Club conversation to reflect on her work.

Later in the podcast, expert readers Debra Marquart and Tracie Morris join the conversation. Marquart is Iowa’s Poet Laureate. She is an author, poet, musician and a distinguished professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University. Marquart's most recent book is The Night We Landed on the Moon: Essays Between Exile & Belonging. Morris is the writer and editor of several books, a poet and performer. She is a professor of poetry at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her most recent book is Who Do with Words: A Blerd Love Tone Manifesto. Marquart and Morris delve into Dove's collection to talk about form, structure and themes.

Interested in joining the next meeting of the Talk of Iowa Book Club? The 2022 Book Club reading list is now available and our June selection is A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Join the discussion June 14, 2022. You can also chat about book club selections and other literary interests with Charity and hundreds of other readers in the Talk of Iowa Book Club Facebook Group.

Guests:

Rita Dove, American poet, writer, former U.S. Poet Laureate 1993 -1995

Tracie Morris, professor of poetry, Iowa Writers’ Workshop, University of Iowa

Debra Marquart, Iowa Poet Laureate, author, poet, musician, distinguished professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University

Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing

New York Times features interactive "close read" interpretation of Rita Dove's "American Smooth"