On Thursday, March 1, poet Nikki Giovanni will discuss her latest book, Acolytes, at the Central Library at 8:00 p.m. If you want to go, it will cost $12 for general admission or $6 for students. Ms. Giovanni took a moment to chat with the Free Library Blog and answered some of our most pressing questions:

1. What role have libraries played in your life?

"Libraries are a precious, sacred place where you can sit and be quite and dream."

2. What was your favorite childhood book?

"The Cave Twins."

3. Who is your favorite fictional character?

"Michael Corleone."

4. Who are the three authors you think everyone should be required to read-which books would you start with?

"Gwendolyn Brooks' A Street in Bronzeville, Langston Hughes' Selected Poems, and Toni Morrison's Sula."

5. If you couldn’t write, what other job would you like to have?

"I'd paint."