Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner
Thomas and Beulah
by Rita Dove
Summary
A linked sequence tells the lives of a married Black couple from the Great Migration through the civil rights era, with each side of the story given its own voice. Dove works in compressed, image rich lyrics that treat ordinary domestic moments as windows onto twentieth century history. The book broadened the lyric sequence into an instrument of African American family memory.
”
Historical Context & Significance
Dove was only the second African American poet to win the prize and later became the youngest U.S. Poet Laureate.