“Poetry is the Culture of a People”: A Celebration of Nikki Giovanni and her Archive at Boston University
Thursday, September 17, 2-7 pm
George Sherman Union, 2nd Floor
775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA 02215
The BU Libraries invites you to the grand opening of the Nikki Giovanni Papers at Boston University as we celebrate the influential poet, writer, and activist and provide the world’s first glimpse into her personal papers.
Coinciding with Boston University Alumni weekend, the Nikki Giovanni Papers opening, “Poetry is the Culture of a People”, is free and open to the public. The celebration features the Boston University premiere screening of the documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and talk back with the filmmakers, an exhibition opening, and reception and poetry reading.
Schedule of Activities
2 pm – 5 pm: Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project film screening, followed by a talk back with filmmakers Michelle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, in conversation with Miles Brewster (Pardee ‘24), filmmaker, educator, and former point guard for the BU Men’s Basketball Team.
About Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Through intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of her poetry, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film by traveling through time and space to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators.
5 pm – 7 pm: Reception and Poetry Reading. More information to be announced.
The Exhibition
“Poetry is the Culture of a People:” Understanding Nikki Giovanni through her Archive, on display in Mugar Library, September 2026, curated by Fallon Murphy, Ph.D. Candidate in American Studies at Boston University.
The archival exhibition, “Poetry is the Culture of a People:” Understanding Nikki Giovanni through her Archive, focusing on the first 10 years of Giovanni’s long career, will enable attendees to have an intimate understanding of her writing and life. The exhibition will guide viewers through some of Giovanni’s most well-regarded poems during the Black Arts Movement, her foray into politics in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X’s assassination, and more. The exhibition also explores some of Giovanni’s newly discovered collaborations with musicians, including Nina Simone and Leontyne Price, and her collaborations and intimate correspondence that demonstrate how Giovanni fits into the Black feminist poetic and political networks towards the end of the 20th century.
Hosted by Boston University Libraries’ Special Collections and Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center in partnership, the African American & Black Diaspora Studies and American Studies programs, the BU Center for the Humanities, the Creative Writing program, LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff, LGBTQIA Student Resource Center, the Office for the Arts.