Early Life
Poet and writer Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., was born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nikki Giovanni is a prominent poet and writer who first
caught the publics attention as part of the Black Arts movement of the late 1960s. Growing up in the Cincinnati area, she often visited Knoxville to see
family, especially her maternal grandmother. By the mid-1970s, Nikki Giovanni had established herself as one of the leading poetic voices. In recent years, Nikki Giovanni has produced several new works. For children, she wrote Jimmy Grasshopper Versus the Ants (2007) and Rosa (2005), a picture book about legendary civil rights figure Rosa Parks.