Poet Nikki Giovanni is the keynote speaker for the YWCA’s annual Inspire Snohomish County fundraising luncheon set for noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18 at the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett.

Directly following the luncheon program, Giovanni will be available to sign her book: A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter. Books will be available for purchase onsite.

“I love supporting YWCA,” said Edmonds resident Jeanne Thorsen. “I believe in providing women and children with abundant opportunities to enhance their lives. “For decades I have donated to YWCA through workplace giving, an annual gift at the luncheon, and deliveries of furniture, clothes and household goods to Pathways and Trinity Place. The experienced and caring staff and numerous programs provide the foundation for changing lives.”

In her website biography, Giovanni says her dream “was not to publish or to even be a writer: my dream was to discover something no one else had thought of. I guess that’s why I’m a poet. We put things together in ways no one else does.”

“I highly recommend old age,” the 71-year-old Giovanni says. “It’s fun. I have been awarded an unprecedented seven NAACP Image Awards which makes me very very proud.  I have been nominated for a Grammy; been a finalist for  the  National Book Award. I am very proud to have authored three New York Times and Los Angeles Times Best Sellers, highly unusual for a poet.

“I am a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. I don’t have a lot of friends but I have good ones. I have a son and a granddaughter. My father, mother, sister and middle aunt are all deceased literarily making me go from being the baby in the family to being an elder. I like to cook, travel and dream. I’m a writer. I’m happy.”

You can register for the luncheon here. To learn more, visit ywcaworks.org/luncheons