* National Book Award for Poetry (1970) for her collection "Black Feeling, Black Talk"
* American Book Award (1981) for her collection "The Women and the Men"
* Langston Hughes Medal (1995) from the National Endowment for the Arts
* The National Humanities Medal (2012)
* The Robert Frost Medal (2014) from the Poetry Society of America
* The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2017) for her collection "A Good Man"
* The NAACP Image Award (2023) for Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry
She has also been awarded honorary doctorates from numerous universities.
It's important to note that while she is known for her poetry, she has also written essays, plays, and children's books, and she has been recognized for her contributions to these genres as well.