Athens, Ga.– The Georgia Review, the University of Georgia’s prize-winning quarterly journal of arts and letters, marks its long association with Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove by hosting the renowned writer for two days of readings, talks, and informal gatherings in Athens on Oct. 8 and 9.

Scheduled events on Thursday, Oct. 8, include a 3:30 p.m. informal talk at the Tate Student Center Theater, and “How Does a Shadow Shine?” a reading at 7 p.m. at the Morton Theatre, 195 W. Washington St.On Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m., the Athens-Clarke County Public Library auditorium will be the venue for “Cafe au Libris: An Evening with Rita Dove,” a conversation and book signing. Dove also will meet with students and faculty at Clarke Central High School while in Athens.

Former Georgia Review editor Stanley Lindberg was one of Dove’s earliest champions: her poem “Robert Schumann, or: Musical Genius Begins with Affliction” appeared in the fall 1978 issue, before she had published her first full-length collection. Her work has appeared in the Georgia Review more than a dozen times, most recently in spring and summer 2004. Dove has been on the Review’s board of advisory and contributing editors since 1993.

The author of nine books of poetry, Dove is a dynamic speaker whose writings address a wide range of vital subjects, including history, politics, racism, music and other arts, and family relationships. Her latest book, Sonata Mulattica (Norton, 2009), considers the life of a forgotten historical figure in classical music, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, a violin prodigy and friend of Beethoven. The New Yorker calls the book “a virtuosic treatment of a virtuoso’s life,” and poet Mark Doty, writing in the April 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, says it “has the sweep and vivid characters of a novel . . . written with a poet’s economy, an eye for the exact detail.” The New York Times recently profiled the author and her new book.

Dove’s other books of poems include The Yellow House on the Corner (1980), Museum (1983), the Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas and Beulah (1986), Grace Notes (1989), Selected Poems (1993), Mother Love (1995), and American Smooth (2004). She has also published a novel, Through the Ivory Gate (1992); a volume of short stories, Fifth Sunday (1985); and a full-length verse drama, The Darker Face of the Earth (1994).

Her many honors include the 1993 NAACP Great American Artist Award; the 1996 National Humanities Medal, bestowed by President Bill Clinton; the 1996 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities; the 2001 Duke Ellington Lifetime Achievement Award; and the 2006 Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service. Poet laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, Dove is currently Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia, where she has taught since 1989.

Additional support for these events is provided by the Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library and the Foundry Park Inn and Spa.For additional information, see www.thegeorgiareview.com or call 1-800-542-3481.

This presentation of Rita Dove is an American Masterpieces project, supported by the Southern Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, and in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts.

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Note to editors: A photo of Dove is available for download at http://www.uga.edu/news/photos/UGA_Dove,Rita.jpg.
Rita Dove photo credit: Fred Viebahn.