CULLOWHEE — Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator, will be the keynote speaker for Western Carolina University’s annual celebration in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Giovanni, who has been called the “Princess of Black Poetry,” will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, in the Grandroom of A.K. Hinds University Center. The address and most King celebration events at WCU are free and open to the public.

A University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Giovanni grew up in an all-black suburb of Cincinnati, and spent summers with her grandparents in Knoxville, Tenn. Her first book of poetry, called “Black Feeling Black Talk,” was published in 1968 and launched her prolific writing ...