John R. Keene Jr. (born 1965 in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
) is a writer, translator, professor, and artist who was named a
MacArthur Fellow
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...
in 2018. His 2022 poetry collection, ''Punks: New and Selected Poems,'' received the
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
for Poetry''.''
Biography
John Keene was born and raised in the city of St. Louis, and in
Webster Groves
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ( ...
, in St. Louis County. Raised
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, attended
parochial schools
A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The wo ...
, and graduated from the
Saint Louis Priory School
, image =
, address = 500 South Mason Road
, city = Creve Coeur
, state = Missouri
, zipcode = 63141
, country = United States
, ...
. He has an A.B. from
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
College, where he was a member of the Harvard Black Community and Student Theater (C.A.S.T.) and served as co-Circulation Manager and on the Art Board of the
Harvard Advocate
''The Harvard Advocate'', the art and literary magazine of Harvard College, is the oldest continuously published college art and literary magazine in the United States. The magazine (published then in newspaper format) was founded by Charles S. ...
. He received an M.F.A. from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
, where he was a
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
Foundation Fellow. He was a longtime member of the
Dark Room Collective
The Dark Room Collective was an influential African-American poetry collective. Established in 1988, the collective hosted a reading series that featured leading figures in Black literature.
Founding and activities
After attending the funeral of ...
, an organization that from 1988 to 1998 celebrated and gave greater visibility to emerging and established writers of color, and also is a Graduate Fellow of
Cave Canem.
Formerly associate professor of English and African American studies at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, United States, he now is Distinguished Professor of English, chairs the African American and African Studies department, and teaches in the MFA in Creative Program at
Rutgers University-Newark
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
. He has taught at
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
and
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
, and at the
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
Writer's Conference. For several years he has served as an editorial board member for the
African Poetry Book Fund, which aims to promote contemporary poetry by African poets through a range of projects, including its book series, contests, workshops, seminars, and library-development efforts.
Creative Work
His first novel, ''Annotations'', was published by
New Directions in 1995. ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' wrote that "Annotations is a work that should not be ignored and is worthy of the highest recommendation. It is an experimental text that points a new direction for literary fiction in the 21st century." A collection of poems entitled ''Seismosis'', in conversation with artwork by
Christopher Stackhouse, was published by 1913 Press in 2006.
In May 2015, New Directions published ''Counternarratives,'' his collection of short fiction, including several novellas. In its review ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' described the book as "suspenseful, thought provoking, mystical, and haunting....Keene's confident writing doesn't aim for easy description or evaluation; it approaches (and defies) literature on its own terms." In her May 2015 review of ''Counternarratives'' in ''Harper's Magazine'', Christine Smallwood said of Keene and the collection, "''Counternarratives'' is an extraordinary work of literature. Keene is a dense, intricate, and magnificent writer." For this and earlier work, he received a 2016
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
. In August 2016, ''Counternarratives'' was awarded 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 ...
by the
Before Columbus Foundation
The Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, "dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature". The Foundation makes annual awards for books published in ...
.
UK publisher
Fitzcarraldo Editions
Fitzcarraldo Editions is an independent book publisher based in London, specialising in literary fiction and long-form essays.
History
Founded in 2014 by Jacques Testard, it focuses on ambitious, imaginative, and innovative writing, both in ...
released a British edition of ''Counternarratives'' in 2016. Reviewer Kate Webb wrote in her ''
TLS'' review of ''Counternarratives'' that "the ambition, erudition and epic sweep of
eene'sremarkable new collection of stories, travelling from the beginnings of modernity to modernism, place it in a class of its own. His book achieves no less than an imaginative repositioning of the history of the Americas." In March 2017 Fitzcarraldo was awarded the inaugural
Republic of Consciousness Prize
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses is an annual British literary prize founded by the author Neil Griffiths. It rewards fiction published by UK and Irish small presses, defined as those with fewer than five full-time employees ...
for Small Presses for ''Counternarratives'', a unanimous decision by all six judges, who described Keene's collection as "a once in a generation achievement for short form fiction. Its subject matter, formal inventiveness, multitude of voices, and seriousness of purpose transform a series of thematically linked stories into a complete work of art."
''GRIND,'' an art-poetry collaboration with photographer
Nicholas Muellner, was published in February 2016 by ITI Press. A chapbook of old and new poems, ''Playland,'' was published by Seven Kitchens Press in September 2016.
Translation Projects
In 2014, ''Letters from a Seducer'', his translation of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian writer
Hilda Hilst
Hilda Hilst (April 21, 1930 – February 4, 2004) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, and playwright. She is lauded as one of the most important Portuguese-language authors of the twentieth century. Her work touches on the themes of mysticism, insanit ...
's 1991 novel ''Cartas de um sedutor'', was published by Nightboat Books and A Bolha Editora. This translation was selected for the 2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist. He has published translations from French, Portuguese and Spanish, of work by writers including
Alain Mabanckou,
Mateo Morrison
Mateo Morrison Fortunato (born 14 April 1946) is a Dominican writer, lawyer, poet and essayist. He won the ''Premio Nacional de Literatura'' of the Dominican Republic in 2010.
Biography
Morrison is the son of Egbert Morrison, a native of Jamaica, ...
,
Edimilson de Almeida Pereira,
Claudia Roquette-Pinto, and
Jean Wyllys
Jean Wyllys (born Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos on 10 March 1974 in Alagoinhas, Bahia, Brazil) is a Brazilian lecturer, journalist and politician who rose to fame after winning the fifth season of '' Big Brother Brasil''. He was also notable as ...
, among others.
He also has given talks and published essays on translation, including "Translating Poetry, Translating Blackness," one of a series of essays curated by poet and translator
Daniel Borzutzky that appears on the
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Rut ...
's ''Harriet'' blog; the essay advocates for increased translation of poets of African descent, poets who consider themselves "black" (in Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands), and other poets of color across the globe.
Artistic Projects
Keene also has engaged in public and durational conceptual events such as the "Emotional Outreach Project", under the rubric of the Field Research Study Group A, beginning in 2002. He has exhibited his work several times at This Red Door's short-term galleries, in Brooklyn
and Berlin in 2013, and in January 2014 introduced his "Emotional Outreach Project 6.0: The Emotional Exercises," at TRD's space at Kunsthalle Galapagos in Brooklyn.
Bibliography
*''
Annotations
An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...
'' (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1995)
*''
Seismosis'' (with artist
Christopher Stackhouse) (1913 Press, 2006)
*''
Letters from a Seducer'' (translation of Hilda Hilst's ''Cartas de um sedutor'') (Nightboat Books, 2014)
*''
Counternarratives'' (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2015; Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK), 2016; Éditions Cambourakis (France), 2016)
*''
GRIND
A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back (me ...
'' (with photographer
Nicholas Muellner) (ITI Press, 2016)
*''
Playland'' (Seven Kitchens Press, 2016)
*''Punks: New & Selected Poems'' (The Song Cave, 2021)
Awards
*Fellowship in Fiction, Artists Foundation of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Cultural Council, 1990.
*
''AGNI'' John Cheever
John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...
Short Fiction Prize in 2000 for "An Outtake from the Ideological Origins of the American Revolution."
*Fellowship in Poetry, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, 2003.
*
Whiting Award for fiction/poetry, 2005.
*
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 ...
for ''Counternarratives'', 2016.
*
Lannan Foundation
The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
Residency, 2016.
*
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
, 2016.
*
Republic of Consciousness Prize
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses is an annual British literary prize founded by the author Neil Griffiths. It rewards fiction published by UK and Irish small presses, defined as those with fewer than five full-time employees ...
for Small Presses (UK), to Fitzcarraldo Editions, for ''Counternarratives'', 2017.
*
Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in Fiction, 2018.
*
MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship, 2018.
* Harold D. Vursell Award for Distinguished Prose,
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
, 2019.
* Fellow, New York Institute for the Humanities, 2019.
* Thom Gunn Prize,
The Publishing Triangle
The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...
, 2022.
*
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, 2022.
*
National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". , 2022.
References
External links
Profile at The Whiting FoundationProfile: John KeeneJohn Keeneat Rutgers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, John
1965 births
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American academics of English literature
American male novelists
Living people
New York University alumni
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
American male poets
Writers from St. Louis
People from Webster Groves, Missouri
American Book Award winners
Harvard Advocate alumni
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Novelists from Missouri
MacArthur Fellows
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
Lambda Literary Award winners
National Book Award winners
African-American Catholics