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Grand Mothers: Poems, Reminiscences, and Short Stories About the Keepers of Our Traditions
Nikki Giovanni created this book by asking her friends--people like Gloria Naylor, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Maxine Hong Kingston--for their stories and recollections of their grandmothers, then to a group of writers in their ninties for their thoughts. Grand Mothers celebrates those special women in every culture who preserve heritae and prepare the future.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
12 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Nikki Giovanni
161 books1,412 followersYolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. She won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her poetry album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she was named as one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 "Living Legends". Giovanni was a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.
Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature, and co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet for other African-American women writers. Over subsequent decades, her works discussed social issues, human relationships, and hip hop. Poems such as "Knoxville, Tennessee" and "Nikki-Rosa" have been frequently re-published in anthologies and other collections.
Giovanni received numerous awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. She was also given the key to over two dozen cities. Giovanni was honored with the NAACP Image Award seven times. One of her more unique honors was having a South America bat species, Micronycteris giovanniae, named after her in 2007.
Giovanni was proud of her Appalachian roots and worked to change the way the world views Appalachians and Affrilachians.
Giovanni taught at Queens College, Rutgers, and Ohio State, and was a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech until September 1, 2022. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, she delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.
Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature, and co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet for other African-American women writers. Over subsequent decades, her works discussed social issues, human relationships, and hip hop. Poems such as "Knoxville, Tennessee" and "Nikki-Rosa" have been frequently re-published in anthologies and other collections.
Giovanni received numerous awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. She was also given the key to over two dozen cities. Giovanni was honored with the NAACP Image Award seven times. One of her more unique honors was having a South America bat species, Micronycteris giovanniae, named after her in 2007.
Giovanni was proud of her Appalachian roots and worked to change the way the world views Appalachians and Affrilachians.
Giovanni taught at Queens College, Rutgers, and Ohio State, and was a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech until September 1, 2022. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, she delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 24, 2021
So many good ancestor stories, and one or two that I simply didn't finish. That's the joy of my grown up reading - I'm not compelled to read to the end, just because I started it. Life is short, books are many. I'm not going to waste my shot, to quote popular lyrics from Hamilton!!
June 21, 2023
People of different ethnicities share stories about their grandmothers. A couple of them never got to meet their grandmothers. Both of mine have passed but I’m grateful that I got to have great memories with both of them.
June 7, 2010
This book was one of two I received from my granddaughter for Mother's Day: a perfect gift for a grandmother. Giovanni has selected stories and poems from various authors, some well known, some from a writing group in a Virginia retirement facility. All are good. The grandmothers vary from the perfect ones who influence in a kindly way and help perserve family heritage. Others are more ordinary, or even cranky. Those selections written by amateur writers are just as good as those by the professionals. An index provides a short biographical sketch of each writer, and I found I was checking each before I read the selection. Often the grandfathers play an important part of the selection also.
January 24, 2015
this collection of stories ranges in style and theme; some are heartwarming, some are funny, all are honest. a combination of unique perspectives on some of the most overlooked women in our world.
September 22, 2012
Great collection of memories about grandmothers and what they mean to women....
March 26, 2016
This was a good compilation of stories about grandmothers. I recommend this read!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews