2006  

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Texas A & M University – Commerce, Certificate of Appreciation.

Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Appreciation.
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award for Rosa .

Rosa is #3 on New York Times bestseller list.
Rosa named a Caldecott Honor Book

Rosa receives the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.

Theta Mu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Appreciation.

University of Virginia Women's Center, HUES Leadership Network for Women of Color Award.

2005

The ALC Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Federal City Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Commendation.

Iowa State Representative Wayne Ford, Fourth Humanitarian Award.

The John Henry Lloyd Humanitarian Award,  Atlantic City , New Jersey .

Key to the City of Grambling Los Angeles

"The Legends" Designated by The Oprah Magazine.

The Mu Zeta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Certificate of Appreciation.

Rosa named Child Magazine's Best Children's Book of the Year

Virginia Arts Celebration in NYC, Special Guest of the Governor.

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, Poet-In-Residence Award.

2004

Elected, Member of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Chapter of Tennessee

Featured, "African American Wisdom Knowledge Cards"

Featured, "Literacy Encounters" 2004 Calendar, Barnes & Noble,

Featured, "Freedom Forum's First Amendment Calendar"

Featured, "The Ohio Reading Road Trip”

Honored by Robert Baker of Texas Tech University . A species of bat is named in her honor (Micronycteris giovanniae).

Nominated, Best Spoken Word Grammy, the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, for "The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection."

Nominated, poetry category,  7th Annual Library of Virginia Literacy Awards.

Nominated, NAACP Image Award for Literature.

Named, "Women of Strength & Courage." American Legacy. New York , NY

Rosa receives the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.

Selected,  Adelante!  Book Club of the American Association of University Women.

Winner,  Atlanta Daily World,  2nd Atlanta Choice Awards.

Winner, East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame Award 

2003

American Library Association's Black Caucus Award for Non-Fiction – Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea

First recipient: The Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award. 

Honorary Citizen of Louisville , Kentucky

Honored by a Proclamation from the Mayor of Hartford, that 10 April 2003 was "Nikki Giovanni Day In the City of Hartford.”

Inducted, Phi Beta Kappa Delta,  Tennessee Chapter, Fisk University

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Quilting the Black–Eyed Pea

Name one of the "History Makers"

"Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea." Selected, Top 10 Adult Picks. African American Booklist. Detroit Public Library

2002

SHERO Award for Lifetime Achievement.

First recipient, Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award

2001

Keys to the Cities of Saginaw , Michigan and Dallas , Texas .

2000

Black Feeling, Black Talk. Included in "Some 100 Classic Millennial B`ooks"

N.A.A.C.P. Image Award, for Blues: For All the Changes

Council of Ideas, The Gihon Foundation

Nominated, Library of Virginia 2000 Poetry Award for Blues: For All the Changes.

Won NAACP Image Award for Literature for Blues: For All the Changes.

Virginia Governor's Award for the Arts.

Certificate of Appreciation, Virginia Dept. of Correctional Education.

Resolution of Honor, city of Youngstown , Ohio

Member, Council on Ideas. Gihon Foundation. Santa Fe , New Mexico .

United States Senate,  Certificate of Commendation.

Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Celebration of Poetry, Art, & Music.

Official Welcome. Resolution, Erie County Legislature. Buffalo , NY

Resolution: Nikki Giovanni Day. City of Buffalo Common Council.

Plaque of Appreciation. Nu Kappa Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. University of West Florida .

Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni. Top 10 Books on MosaicBooks.Com.

1990's

1999   Capitol Citation, North Carolina Department of State

Invited participant, The Children's Defense Fund Symposium organized by Marian Wright Edelmann.
Other participants: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Donna Shalala, and Toni Morrison.

Membership, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The State of North Carolina

University Distinguished Professor. Virginia Tech.

Voted Ohio 's Favorite Author of Poetry by Ohioans.

1998    The Appalachian Medallion Award. University of Charleston

Belle Ringer Image Role Model Award. Bennett College

Distinguished Visiting Professor, Johnson & Wales University

Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies. Virginia Tech.

Invited Guest, Millenium Evening at the White House

Living Legacy Award. Juneteenth Festival of Columbus , Ohio .

NAACP Image Award, for Love Poems.

National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. The Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University

Robert E. Dennard Visiting Scholar. St. Mark's School of Texas . Dallas Texas

Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts

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1997       Parents' Choice Award for The Sun Is So Quiet.
Esther Eberstadt Baldwin Scholar, College of Notre Dame, Maryland .

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1996        Artist-in-Residence, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Philadelphia

Contributor's Arts Award, The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing

Featured Writer, Literacy Partners Benefit Reading. Lincoln Center

Honorary Citizenship, City of Baltimore

The Jeanine Rae Award for the Advancement of Women's Culture, National Women's Music Festival

Keys to the Cities of Natchez , Mississippi and Birmingham , Alabama .

Knowledge Heritage Award. The Knowledge Afrocentric Empowerment Coalition, Augusta Correctional Center.

The Langston Hughes Award for 1996. City College of New York .

Outstanding Humanitarian Award, House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Kentucky .

Selected Author for The Literacy Letters Auction. Sponsored by Literacy Partners, Inc. Sotheby's.

“Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni” nominated for NAACP Image Award

Tennessee Governor's Award In the Humanities. The Tennessee Humanities Council.

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1995     Visiting Professor of English, University of Indiana/Kokomo

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1994   Black Women's Honor Society Award, University of Southern California

 Keys to the cities of Kokomo , Indiana ; Mobile , Alabama ; and Morgantown , West Virginia

Tennessee Writer's Award. The Nashville Banner

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1993     The Hill Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota

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1992      The Beach Lecturer, University of Minnesota

Community Volunteer of the Year Award, Warm Hearth Village
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Roanoke Chapter) initiates The Nikki Giovanni Annual Artistic Award

The John Tate Lecture for Excellence in Academic Advising, University of Minnesota

Martin Luther King, Jr., Visiting Professor, University of Oregon

Portland Art Beat, Featured Poet

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1991 The Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors Chair, Texas Christian University

National Festival of Black Storytelling Initiates the Nikki Giovanni Award for Young African American Storytellers
Two Friends." Incorporated as a Permanent Tile Wall Exhibit by the Oxnard Public Library, California

Utrecht International Poetry Festival, Featured Poet

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1980's

1988     The Children's Reading Roundtable of Chicago Award (for Vacation Time)

Cincinnati Bi-Centennial Honoree

McDonald's Literary Achievement Awards: Poetry Award to be presented in the name of Nikki Giovanni in perpetuity

The Ohioana Library Award (for Sacred Cows)

Silver Apple Award, Oakland Museum Film Festival

Spin A Soft Black Song selected by the United States Information Agency for Inclusion in the Exhibition to the Soviet Union

1986      Distinguished Recognition Award, Detroit City Council

Duncanson Artist in Residence, The Taft Museum

The Post-Corbett Award

1985    The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame

1983    YWCA Woman of the Year, Cincinnati Chapter

Outstanding Woman of Tennessee