The poet and activist Nikki Giovanni discusses the power of literature as she joins us for Poetry International and London Literature Festival.

An undeniable cultural icon, and a leading light in the Black Arts Movement of the mid 1960’s to mid 1970’s, Giovanni is the winner of numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and NAACP Image Award, as well as a Grammy Award nomination for her album The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. She appears at the Southbank Centre in conversation with the British Ghanaian writer, Bridget Minamore.

In a thoroughly engaging wide-ranging and entertaining discussion, Nikki Giovanni begins by talking about a memorable meeting and subsequent friendship with Rosa Parks. And from there moves on to everything from wanting to be the International Space Station’s poet-in-residence, her dislike of Thanksgiving, the immortality of Queen Elizabeth, and her love of rap and hip-hop.

“I’m always falling in love, it’s a good idea. You fall in love and then you get rid of them, and then you fall in love again. It goes” – NIKKI GIOVANNI

Listen here