Awards

• Winner of Hurston/Wright LEGACY Award (Poetry) 2010

Overview

In a book-length lyric narrative inspired by history and imagination, a much­-celebrated poet re-creates the life of a nineteenth-century virtuoso violinist. The son of a white woman and an 'African Prince', George Polgreen Bridgetower (1780–1860) travels to Vienna to meet 'bad-boy' genius Ludwig van Beethoven. The great composer’s subsequent sonata is originally dedicated to the young mulatto, but George, exuberant with acclaim, offends Beethoven over a woman. From this crucial encounter evolves a grandiose yet melancholy poetic tale. from Vienna Spring though dipped in ink, this Jacob has grappled the shining messenger for a glimpse of heaven and won the battle: entirely master of his instrument, he climbs the strings agile as the monkeys from his father’s land. Ah, Immortality has a new-wrought human face . . .

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9780393070088

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Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize winner and former U. S. Poet Laureate, is the only poet honored with both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Arts. Her recent works include Playlist for the Apocalypse, Sonata Mulattica, and the National Book Award-shortlisted Collected Poems: 1974-2004. In 2021 she was awarded the Gold Medal for Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2023 she received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives in Charlottesville, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Virginia.

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