About Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. She served as poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress from 1993 to 1995, becoming the first African American appointed to the position after it was established in 1986. In 1987, she became the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Dove was special consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress during its bicentennial year (1999–2000) and served as Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. She has been teaching at the University of Virginia since 1989. == Early life == Rita Dove was born on August 28, 1952, in Akron, Ohio. Her father, Ray Dove, was one of the first African-American chemists to work in the U.S. tire industry as a research chemist at Goodyear, while her mother, Elvira Hord, achieved honors in high school and would share her passion for reading with her daughter. Dove graduated from Buchtel High School in 1970 as a Presidential Scholar and received a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Miami University in 1973. From 1974 to 1975, she held a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Tübingen in Germany. She received her Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1977.
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