Janet McAdams (born 1957) is an American poet, who wrote ''The Island of Lost Luggage'' (
University of Arizona Press
The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books. As a delegate of the University of Arizona to the larger world, the Press p ...
) which received an
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
in 2001 and the First Book Award for Poetry from the
Native Writers' Circle of the Americas The Native Writers' Circle of the Americas (NWCA) is an organization of Native American writers, most notable for its literary awards, presented annually to Native American writers in three categories: ''First Book of Poetry'', ''First Book of Prose ...
in 1999. She is also the editor of
Salt Publishing
Salt Publishing is an independent publisher whose origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched ''Salt Magazine'' in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry ...
's Earthworks Series of Native poets. In addition, she's worked as a telephone operator, a cartographer, a camp counselor, a maid, a cook, and an exercise instructor for people with developmental disabilities.
Background and education
Janet McAdams claims to be of
Alabama Creek, Scottish, and Irish ancestry.
[ She received her MFA in creative writing from the ]University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
and her PhD in comparative literature from Emory University, where her studies focused on American Indian poetry. She has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Alabama, the American School of El Salvador, the University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
, and is presently the Robert P. Hubbard Professor of Poetry at Kenyon College.[
]
Writing career
Her first novel, ''Red Weather'', is about a Native American's trip to a small Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
n country in search of her activist parents.
Works
* ''The Island of Lost Luggage'', University of Arizona Press. 2000.
* ''Feral'', Salt Publishing. 2007
* ''Red Weather'', (University of Arizona Press, 2012
See also
* Poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
References
External links
Janet McAdams, Kenyon College
Janet McAdams, Poetry Foundation
Janet McAdams, Hanksville
Salt Publishing's Earthworks Series
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAdams, Janet
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
Kenyon College faculty
1957 births
Living people
American women poets
20th-century American poets
20th-century American women writers
American Book Award winners
American women academics
21st-century American women