Award-winning American Poet and leading voice of the '60s Black Arts movement Nikki Giovanni has died aged 81.

Her friend, author Renée Watson, told NPR in a statement that Giovanni passed away on Monday, December 9, after her third cancer diagnosis.

Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr in Knoxville, Giovanni studied at Fisk University in Nashville, where she met several Black literary figures before studying poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts in New York.

Her first couple of poetry collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk and Black Judgement, were published in 1968. Giovanni would go on to release over thirty books, as she became a leading figure in the Black Arts movement alongside the likes of Thelonious Monk, Audre Lorde and Maya Angelou. Giovanni was a regular guest on Soul!, a Black arts and culture talk show, where she held conversations with figures like Muhammad Ali and acclaimed author James Baldwin.

Giovanni was also a champion of rap music, editing the 2008 book Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat.

“We will forever feel blessed to have shared a legacy and love with our dear cousin,” Allison (Pat) Ragan, Giovanni’s cousin, said in a statement on behalf of the family.