Renowned poet Nikki Giovanni will be laid to rest at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, she grew up in Lincoln Heights and passed away on December 9 at the age of 81.
A public graveside service will be held on Thursday, December 19, at 2 p.m., as confirmed by a statement from her family.
Giovanni, known as the “Princess of Black Poetry,” died in a Virginia hospital from complications related to cancer. She had battled the disease intermittently since the 1990s. According to her family, she passed away peacefully with her wife and lifelong partner, Virginia Fowler, by her side.
She is survived by her wife, Virginia Fowler; her son, Thomas Giovanni; her granddaughter, Kai Giovanni; two cousins, Haynes Ford and Allison (Pat) Ragan; and her nephew, Christopher Black.
In a statement, Allison Ragan expressed the family’s sorrow, saying, “We will forever feel blessed to have shared a legacy and love with our dear cousin.”
A Legacy in Poetry
Giovanni was a prominent figure in the Black Arts and Civil Rights movements during the 1960s. She was known for her work advocating for racial and gender equality. She authored dozens of poetry collections and was in the process of completing her final book, THE LAST BOOK, which is set to be released next year.
Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. in 1943, Giovanni moved with her family to Ohio at the age of four. Her older sister gave her the nickname “Nikki.” The family first lived in Wyoming before settling in Lincoln Heights, one of the first municipalities founded by Black residents. In a 2011 interview with Kathy Y. Wilson for Cincinnati Magazine, Giovanni shared her fond memories of her childhood in the community.
“We bought a home in Lincoln Heights on Jackson Street and lived there for a long time before buying a house on Congress Street,” she recalled. “Lincoln Heights was a lovely place. It was a working-class community. I went to St. Simon’s and walked to school every day, which I liked. We had Neal’s Grocery Store when we lived on Jackson Street.”
Her early writings focused on Black liberation and the Civil Rights movement. As her career progressed in the 1970s, Giovanni gained national attention through television interviews with figures like James Baldwin and Muhammad Ali. She also released the influential album The Truth is on Its Way and participated in high-profile poetry readings and lectures. Her work began to focus more on themes of love, family, and Black joy.
Giovanni was a University Distinguished Professor in the English Department at Virginia Tech. She was also an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and received hundreds of awards and honors throughout her career.
Kwame Alexander, a fellow author and friend, expressed gratitude for Giovanni’s impact, saying, “We will be forever grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world.”
