RITA DOVE was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1952. She received the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for her third book of poems, Thomas and Beulah. Other honors include Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, the General Electric Foundation Award, and the Lavin Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her first novel, Through the Ivory Gate, was published by Pantheon in 1992. A professor of English at the University of Virginia, Ms. Dove lives in Charlottesville with her husband, the novelist Fred Viebahn, and their daughter Aviva.
