Degrees:
B.A. (summa cum laude) Miami 1973
M.F.A. Iowa 1977
D. Litt. (Hon.), Miami U.-1988, Knox College-1989, Tuskegee U.-1994, U. of Miami-1994,
Washington U.-1994, Case Western Reserve U.-1994, U. of Akron-1994, Arizona State U.-1995,
Boston College-1995, Dartmouth College-1995, Spelman College-1996, U of Penn.-1996, U.
North Carolina/Chapel Hill-1997, U. Notre Dame-1997, Northeastern U.-1997, Columbia
U.-1998.
On-line Projects:
Lady Freedom Among Us (1994)
Books:
On the Bus with Rosa Parks (poems). Forthcoming from W.W. Norton, April
1999.
Det Rosa Er I Oss (selected poems in Norwegian translation). Det Norske Samlaget, 1996.
Mother Love (poems). W. W. Norton, 1995.
The Poet's World (essays). Library of Congress, 1995.
The Darker Face of the Earth (verse drama). Story Line Press, 1994 and 1996.
Lady Freedom Among Us (poem). Janus Press, 1994. (commissioned by the University of Virginia Library as its four-millionth volume)
Selected Poems. Pantheon/Vintage, 1993.
Selected Poems (audio book). Random House, 1993.
Through the Ivory Gate (novel). Pantheon Books, 1992.
Grace Notes (poems). W.W. Norton, 1989.
Die gläserne Stirn der Gegenwart (selected poems in German translation). Heiderhoff Verlag, 1989.
Die morgenländische Tänzerin (selected poems in German translation). Rowohlt Verlag, 1988.
Thomas and Beulah (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1986.
Fifth Sunday (short stories). Callaloo Fiction Series, 1985.
Museum (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1983.
The Yellow House on the Corner (poems). Carnegie-Mellon, 1980.
Recent poems, fiction, articles in numerous anthologies, textbooks and periodicals.
Plays:
The Darker Face of the Earth. Premiered at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, July, 1996. Productions at Crossroads Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, and The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., Oct./Nov. 1997.
Major musical collaborations:
Umoja - Each One Of Us Counts, music by Alvin Singleton, commissioned by the Atlanta Olympic Summer Games, July 1996, with Andrew Young as narrator. Also at Plymouth Music Series, Minneapolis Orchestra Hall, Feb. 1998, with the author as narrator.
Singin' Sepia, music by Tania Leon, premiered by Ensemble Continuum at Merkin Concert Hall, New York, February 1996.
Grace Notes, a song cycle for soprano, clarinet, vibraphone, cello, and piano, music by Bruce Adolph, premiered at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, January 1997.
The Pleasure's In Walking Through, composition by Walter Ross to poems by Rita Dove, sung by Rita Dove, Oratorio Society, Charlottesville Performing Arts Center, March 1998.
Seven for Luck, seven poems by Rita Dove with music by John Williams, The Boston Symphony, Cynthia Haymon, soprano, John Williams, conducting. Tanglewood, July 25, 1998.
Recent Audiovisual Productions:
"Boston Pops," with John Williams, Rita Dove, Joshua Bell, Cynthia Haymon and the Boston Pops, filmed at the University of Virginia, Monticello and Boston Symphony Hall, PBS, July 27, 1998.
Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," May 1994, Nov. 1994, Feb. 1998.
"In the Prime," PBS, 1997.
"Virginia Writers of Distinction: Rita Dove." Virginia Center for the Book, 1997.
Segments for "Virginia Currents," WHTJ, 1995 & 1997.
Interviews on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, Channel One, 1997.
"Sesame Street," segment with Big Bird, PBS, 1995.
"Bill Moyers' Journal: Poet Laureate Rita Dove," PBS, 1994.
"Shine Up Your Words: A Morning with Rita Dove," Virginia Center for the Book, 1994.
"Who's Afraid of Poetry?" (National Press Club), C-Span and NPR, 1994.
"A Conversation with Poet Laureate Rita Dove," Library of Congress, 1993.
Current Positions:
Senator, Phi Beta Kappa
Afro-American Studies Visiting Committee, Harvard University
Council of Scholars, Library of Congress
Awards Council, American Academy of Achievement
Elector, The Poets' Corner, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, New York
Commissioner, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Juror, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Board of Governors, Humanities Research Institute, University of California
Advisory Board, U.S. Civil War Center
Advisory Board, The MacDowell Colony
Advisory Board, Thomas Jefferson Center for Freedom of Expression
Advisory Board, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Advisory Board, North Carolina Writers' Network
Advisory Board, Live Arts, Charlottesville
Advisory Board, The Peabody School, Charlottesville
Fellow, Shannon Center for Advanced Studies, University of Virginia
Thomas Jefferson Award Committee, University of Virginia
Board, Charlottesville-Albemarle Opera Society
Editorial Board, Iris
Advisory Editor - Callaloo, Gettysburg Review, The Georgia Review, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, Bellingham Review, International Quarterly, Mid-American Review
Honors:
Phi Beta Kappa Senator, 1994-2000
Lyndon B. Johnson Lecturer, Southwest Texas State U., 1998
Sara Lee Frontrunner Award, 1997
Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, 1997
Chair, Poetry Jury, The 1997 Pulitzer Prizes
Featured author on Ugandan postage stamp, Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation, 1997
National Association of Women in Education (NAWE) Distinguished Woman Award, 1977
Charles Frankel Prize (National Medal in the Arts), The White House & National Endowment for the Humanities, 1996
Heinz Award in the Arts, 1996
U.S. Poet Laureate/Consultant in Poetry, Library of Congress (1993-1995)
Host (with Jimmy Carter), gathering of Nobel Laureates in Literature, Cultural Olympiad, Atlanta 1995
Fund for New American Plays Award, The Kennedy Center, 1995
Renaissance Forum Award, Folger Shakespeare Library, 1994
Distinguished Achievement Medal, Miami University Alumni Association, 1994
Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, 1994
Carl Sandburg Award, International Platform Association, 1994
NAACP Great American Artist Award, 1993
Woman of the Year Award, Glamour Magazine, 1993
Virginia College Stores Association Book Award, 1993
Literary Lion, New York Public Library, 1991
Phi Beta Kappa poet, Harvard University, 1993
Ohioana Award, 1990, 1994
Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies, U. of Virginia, 1989-92
National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, 1989
Mellon Fellow, National Humanities Center, 1988-89
Bellagio Residency, The Rockefeller Foundation, 1988
Ohio Governor's Award, 1988
General Electric Foundation Award, 1987
Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, 1987
President, Associate Writing Programs, 1986/87
Lavan Younger Poet Award, The Academy of American Poets, 1986
Callaloo Award, 1986
Chair, poetry grants panel, National Endowment for the Arts, 1985
Guggenheim Fellow, 1983-84
Portia Pittman Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities, Tuskegee Institute, 1982
International Working Period for Authors Fellow, North-Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Culture and Universität Bielefeld, 1980
Ohio Arts Council Grant, 1979
National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, 1978
Fulbright Scholar, Universität Tübingen, 1974-75
Phi Beta Kappa, 1973
Phi Kappa Phi, 1973
National Achievement Scholar, 1970-73
Presidential Scholar, 1970