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| Nikki Giovanni:
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 | About Nikki Giovanni |
| It has been said many times that Nikki Giovanni is the Princess of Black Poetry. Princess seems a little delicate for Nikki. She is one of the most important writers today--a storyteller whose medium is poetry because she just "got comfortable"" with it (""sort of like when you fry chicken instead of bake it.""). An activist who was involved with the Black Power movement of the 1960s, and now a professor at Virginia Tech, Giovanni has written many volumes of poetry. Recently, her book, Love Poems, won the NAACP Image Award. |
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| The Interview |
GCD: How did you become a poet?
NG: I have always enjoyed telling stories, and I like to write. I think you have to make up your mind that that is what you do. You can't let someone else define what you do. You make the decision that what you write is poetry. Other people just have the right to say that it's not very good.
GCD: How do you write? On a computer? In a notebook?
NG: I do write on the computer, but I don't write every day. The one thing that I do every day for my writing is I read something: a newspaper, a magazine, a cookbook, anything. Because that is the way I learn something. If you learn something every day, soon you will have a body of knowledge that you can explore. Learn something, play with it in your head, enjoy it. And then sit down and write about it.
GCD: What kind of skills does a poet need?
NG: The main thing is, and it always sounds so silly when you say it, is you have to read. There is no getting around it. I don't know why anyone would want to be a poet if they didn't like to read. And the wise young lady will use television, not to learn from, but to raise new questions.
GCD: When you started out you were determined to support yourself by writing. How did you do that?
NG: First of all, you would be surprised at what you don't need. I don't have to impress somebody and be in debt for a lot of clothes or wear a lot of expensive makeup (I still don't wear makeup) or have a big car. I thought if I trimmed my needs down to my necessities, I should be able to earn a living from what I love. All I have to do to be happy with my life is to tell the truth. I think everybody should be in that position.
GCD: Many of your poems are very political. Can you talk about the value of political awareness?
NG: I think it's valuable to participate in anything that's interesting to you. For me, to be politically interested is normal. It's like a great sport. I think the concept of 'I am an artist and not of this world' is ridiculous. Human beings are put on this earth for the service of human life. You ought to be giving something back. That's part of your obligation--to make life a little bit better.
GCD: Sometimes reading poetry can be difficult. Do you have any hints to make it easier?
NG: You know what the trick is? I don't know why poets don't admit this. You read it on a human breath. I don't care if it's Shakespeare or Ezra Pound, wherever you have to take a breath, that's where it's going to stop. Nobody admits it because it's too simple.
GCD: Are there one or two of your books that you would specifically recommend?
NG: Love Poems. Many of them are very different because I wanted to show that love comes in all forms and all seasons. I also like My House. It brought together some interesting questions and that's what I like to do with my work. "Winter Poem" once a snowflake fell on my brow and i loved it so much and i kissed it and it was happy and called its cousins and brothers and a web of snow engulfed me then i reached to love them all and i squeezed them and they became a spring rain and i stood perfectly still and was a flower" --from My House |
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