Nikki Giovanni, acclaimed poet of the Black Arts Movement, dies aged 81

The US poet Nikki Giovanni, who has died aged 81. Photograph: Logan Wallace

Nikki Giovanni, the award-winning US poet who emerged as one of the leading voices of the 1960s Black Arts movement, has died aged 81.

Giovanni died on Monday following her third cancer diagnosis, her friend, the author Renée Watson, told NPR in a statement.