Douglas Kearney

Douglas Kearney
Kearney at AWP 2025
Born1974 (age 51–52)
United States
OccupationPoet, writer, teacher, librettist
Alma mater
Notable awards

Douglas Kearney (born 1974)[1] is an American poet, performer, and librettist. Kearney grew up in Altadena, California. His work has appeared in journals and magazines including Poetry, Boston Review, and The Brooklyn Rail.[2][3][4] His collection Sho won the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry. His collection I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always was a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.[2][5] In 2012, Anne LeBaron's opera Crescent City, with a libretto by Kearney, premiered to critical praise.[6] He is a professor at the University of Minnesota.[7]

Education

Kearney received a B.A. from Howard University and an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts.[7]

Awards and honors

Kearney is a graduate and fellow of Cave Canem, and has received support from the Idyllwild Summer Arts Poetry Workshop, the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshops, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.[2]

In 2007, the Poetry Society of America named Kearney a Notable New American Poet.[2] The following year, his second full-length collection, The Black Automaton, was selected for the National Poetry Series.[8] Kearney wrote the libretto for George Lewis's opera The Comet, which was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music.[9]

Selected awards and honors
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2006 "Swimchant for Nigger Mer-folk" (poem) Coat Hanger Award Winner [10][11]
2008 — Whiting Award Winner [8]
2008 The Black Automaton National Poetry Series Selection [8]
2015 Patter California Book Award for Poetry Finalist [12]
2017 Buck Studies California Book Award for Poetry Silver [13]
CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry Winner [14]
Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize Winner [15]
2021 — Campbell Opera Librettist Prize Winner [16]
Sho National Book Award for Poetry Finalist [17]
2022 Sho Griffin Poetry Prize Winner [18]
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Finalist [2]
2023 Optic Subwoof CLMP Firecracker Award for Creative Nonfiction Winner [19]
Poetry Foundation Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism Winner [20]
2026 I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Finalist [5]

Works

External videos
Douglas Kearney @ Valley Contemporary Poets, vimeo
  • FEAR, SOME. Red Hen Press. 2006. ISBN 978-1-59709-071-1.
  • The Black Automaton. Fence Books. 2009. ISBN 978-1-934200-28-5.
  • PATTER. Red Hen Press. 2014. ISBN 978-1-59709-580-8.
  • Mess and Mess and. Noemi Press. 2015. ISBN 978-1-93481-951-7.
  • Someone Took They Tongues. Subito Press. 2016. ISBN 978-0-9906612-5-2.
  • Buck Studies. Fence Books. 2016. ISBN 978-0-98643-737-3.
  • Sho. Wave Books. April 2021. ISBN 9781950268153.
  • Optic Subwoof. Wave Books. November 2022. ISBN 9781950268672.
  • I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always. Wave Books. April 2025. ISBN 9798891060128.

Anthologies

  • Tony Medina; Louis Reyes Rivera, eds. (2001). Bum Rush the Page: a Def Poetry Jam. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-609-80840-5.
  • Samiya Bashir; Tony Medina; Quarishi Ali Lansana, eds. (2002). Role Call: a generational anthology of social and political Black art & literature. Third World Press. ISBN 978-0-88378-238-5.
  • Sheree R. Thomas, ed. (2005). Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. Aspect. ISBN 978-0446693776
  • Nikky Finney, ed. (2007). "Big Thicket: Pastoral". The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2926-0.
  • Mark Eleveld, ed. (2007) Spoken Word Revolution Redux. Sourcebooks MediaFusion. ISBN 978-1402208690
  • Sherman Alexie, David Lehman, eds (2015) Best American Poetry 2015[21] Scribner Press. ISBN 978-1476708201
  • Melissa Tuckey, ed. (2018). Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0820353159.

References

  1. ^ "Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize". www.svsu.edu. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Douglas Kearney". Poetry Foundation. July 21, 2018. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  3. ^ "Douglas Kearney". Boston Review. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  4. ^ "Douglas Kearney". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Finalist: I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always, by Douglas Kearney (Wave Books)". The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  6. ^ Swed, Mark (May 11, 2012). "Review: Industry's remarkable 'Crescent City' reshapes L.A. opera". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Douglas Kearney". College of Liberal Arts. University of Minnesota. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c "Douglas Kearney". Whiting Foundation. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  9. ^ "Finalist: The Comet, by George Lewis". The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  10. ^ "MAST by Douglas Kearney". Poetry Foundation. July 21, 2018. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  11. ^ "From the Fishouse: Poets: Douglas Kearney". December 18, 2009. Archived from the original on December 18, 2009. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  12. ^ "Douglas Kearney is a California Book Award Finalist!". Red Hen Press. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  13. ^ "Winners of 86th Annual California Book Awards Competition Announced". Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. May 9, 2017. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  14. ^ "The 2017 Firecracker Award Winners". Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. June 12, 2017. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  15. ^ "Past Prize Winners". Saginaw Valley State University. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  16. ^ "Campbell Opera Librettist Prize". OPERA America. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  17. ^ "2021 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. October 2021. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  18. ^ "Douglas Kearney Awarded Griffin International Poetry Prize". College of Liberal Arts. University of Minnesota. June 17, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  19. ^ "Announcing the Winners of the 2023 Firecracker Awards". Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. June 22, 2023. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  20. ^ "Poetry Foundation Announces 2023 Pegasus Awards Winners and a New Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry". Poetry Foundation. September 7, 2023. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  21. ^ "Douglas Kearney's "In the End, They Were Born on TV" the third TIR poem selected for Best American Poetry 2015! | The Iowa Review". iowareview.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
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