Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares the poem, "Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove," by Rita Dove. Dove was born in Akron, Ohio in 1952 and graduated with a BA in English from Miami University of Ohio in 1973. She subsequently earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. Dove’s work includes poetry, short stories, novels, and numerous essays. Her poetry collection, Thomas and Beulah, won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Dove served as poet laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, and as poet laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. She currently serves as a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, where she has been teaching since 1989. Dove’s many honors include 28 honorary doctorates. President Bill Clinton awarded her the 1996 National Humanities Medal, and President Barack Obama presented her with the 2011 National Medal of Arts, making her the only poet who has received both medals.

The subject of the poem, Hattie McDaniel, was the first African American to win an Academy Award. She became famous for her role in Gone With the Wind.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 27 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.