Rita Dove

Rita Dove is an acclaimed American poet, essayist, and writer, born in Akron, Ohio, in 1952, who became the youngest person and first African American appointed Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995. She won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection *Thomas and Beulah*, inspired by her grandparents' lives, and has published poetry, short stories, a novel, and essays while teaching at the University of Virginia. A Presidential Scholar in high school, she earned degrees from Miami University, Universität Tübingen, and the University of Iowa.