Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio on August 28, 1952. When she was a young girl, she never thought that she would become a writer. Though she loved to read and write as a child, the thought of making a living writing did not occur to her until she was a senior in high school. Though as a child, Dove did not see herself as a writer , she loved learning about language and would use her weekly assigned spelling words to create prose work she titled "Chaos". In forth grade dove wrote poem "the Rabbit With the Droopy Ear". In both cases Rita let the words shape the event of her work, she used this trait throughout her career.

Rita was a book worm, she loved reading and writing. Dove wanted to be a doctor's or a lawyer's wife, but due to the expectations adults surrounded her with, she realized she could obtain a much higher profession. Rita was constantly changing her major as a freshman, but she started her sophomore year as a English major. She was inspired by her writing instructor to become a writer. By her junior year Rita decided that she wanted to become a poet, so she continued to study English and language arts. he began publishing her work in mid-1970's.

Rita Dove's On the Bus with Rosa Parks collection examines the personal, inner feelings of the self and connects those feelings to universal experience. One of Dove's most profound attributes is her willingness to get a history that is not told. She is a controversial writer because she shows both the positive and negative characteristics of human nature, whether they are African America or White American.

Rita Dove inspires me because for one she is an African American Female Writer and she tell both sides to the story not just good or bad.