One of the most magical moments of Rita Dove’s life happened during a poetry reading in front of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the new millennium.

She will never forget the massive crowd of people who turned out to celebrate the New Year – or being able to read her poems along alongside an orchestra led by music composer John Williams.

“That was beyond awesome,” Dove said.

Dove is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. poet laureate. She will make several public appearances in Athens Thursday and Friday to read and discuss her work with University students and the community.

The Georgia Review is hosting Dove’s visit to Athens with support from the Southern Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from the Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library and the Foundry Park Inn.

“She’s one of our contemporary masters,” said Mindy Wilson, managing editor of The Georgia Review. “She’s a national treasure.”

That’s evidenced by the fact that her visit is a NEA Masterpieces project, an initiative of NEA to acquaint Americans with the best of their cultural and artistic legacy, Wilson said.

Since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, Dove made the transition from being a young poet with a “quiet life” to gaining worldwide recognition. She has now published nine books of poetry on many topics, including politics, history, music, racism and family relationships.

“Even if you don’t like poetry or don’t think you do, she’s very likely to reach you in some way,” Wilson said. “Her writing addresses a wide range of subjects.”

Dove has received many honors including the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, along with Anderson Cooper, John Glenn, Mike Nichols and Queen Noor of Jordan, and being a consultant to the Library of Congress. In 2009 she received the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal.

Dove finds time for a hobby despite a busy schedule: ballroom dancing. She and her husband have been ballroom dancing for 10 years now.

“It’s a joy that came out of tragedy,” Dove said.

When Dove’s house burned down after being struck by lightning, some neighbors bought her and her husband tickets to a dinner dance as a gift.

“It was a time to forget the ashes and come out and dance,” Dove said. “At dinner we saw people dancing by doing the waltz. I always wished I did that. The next day a neighbor signed the entire neighborhood up for dancing. [My husband and I] were the only ones that stuck with it.”

Though other colleagues first questioned her love for ballroom dancing, Dove said that, especially with all of the dance shows on TV, now they are more understanding.

“It’s wonderful because it’s musical and it’s physical at the same time.”

During her time in Athens, she will be reading from her latest book, “Sonata Mulattica.” The book tells the story of a forgotten historical figure in classical music, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, who was a mixed-race violin prodigy and a friend of Beethoven.

“[My book] is not only for poets,” Dove said. “It’s for anyone who’s interested in history, music, culture, German, English… It covers so much ground [and] it’s fun at the same time.”

Dove urges everyone to come to her events, even if the sound of a poetry reading may be intimidating.

“A lot of people think poetry is so heavy and are afraid of it because they don’t understand it,” Dove said. “My experience has always been that the fear keeps people from understanding. If you let the poems wash over you, I think you will find that you will have a marvelous time.”