Born in Akron, Ohio, Rita Dove excelled in school during her youth. She did her undergraduate studies at the Miami University of Ohio and earned her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. She also received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Germany.

Dove has published several volumes of poetry, including Thomas and Beulah (1986), for which she won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Dove’s poetry has been described as “lyrical and accessible” and clearly reflects her interest in music.

She has taught at the University of Virginia Charlottesville since 1989.

–Christie Finn