Nikki Giovanni
American · 20th–21st century
Poet associated with the Black Arts Movement and civil rights. Known for accessible, emotionally direct work about love, loss, and political struggle.
Connection to Taylor Swift
Briefly mentioned in episode in connection with the "ink bleeds" image, Angela & Uncle Jerry reference a poem about staying up late and creative labour.
Notable Works
- Black Feeling Black Talk, The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
Poetry
Uncle Jerry quotes Nikki Giovanni's poem 'Poetry' when Angela describes listening to the 10-minute version alone on her couch late at night. He uses the line about wrapping loneliness around you at night to characterize Angela's experience of hearing the song for the first time, and to connect the act of solitary late-night listening to the creative and emotional experience Giovanni describes.
Writing as pain / pouring yourself into work
“And all at once, the ink bleeds”
Uncle Jerry notes that T.S. Eliot is not the only writer who addresses the connection between blood and ink, mentioning that Nikki Giovanni 'has a poem where she talks a little bit about that staying up late and how difficult it is just to write, you know, just to pour yourself into your work.' He uses this to broaden the literary tradition behind Taylor's ink-bleeds image.
Poetry
Angela & Uncle Jerry note that Nikki Giovanni's poem 'Poetry' describes poets staying up to midnight with their typewriter in hand, wrapped in their feelings trying to write poetry. Uncle Jerry hears echoes of this in the Midnights album concept and in Dear Reader's bridge where the speaker is up late at night, pacing in her pen, writing alone. The connection is inferred, Uncle Jerry wonders whether Taylor knew Giovanni's work and sees thematic parallels rather than direct quotation.