Randall Mann (born January 21, 1972) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Life and career

Born in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

, the only son of Olympic Track and Field medalist

Ralph Mann Ralph Vernon Mann (born June 16, 1949) is a retired American sprinter and hurdler. He was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, and later earned a Ph.D. in Biomechanics from the Washington State University. In 1969, Mann won his first N ...

, Mann grew up in Kentucky and Florida, and earned a BA and an MFA from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Since 1998, he has lived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Publications and critical reception

Mann's poems have appeared in numerous periodicals—including The Kenyon Review,

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

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 ...

, and

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

—and he has published six full-length poetry collections. His first collection, ''Complaint in the Garden'', published by Zoo Press in 2004, won the 2003 Kenyon Review Prize in Poetry. Mann's next collection, ''Breakfast with Thom Gunn'', published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

in 2009, was praised by the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

: "craft and bravura mix well" and "the clarity startles." The book was named a finalist for the

California Book Award The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Ac ...

and the

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a gay-themed book of poetry by a male writer. At the first two Lambda Literary Awards in 1989 and 1990, a single award for LGBT Po ...

. Mann's next two collections were published by Persea Books. ''Straight Razor'', published in 2013, was described by the

as full of "breathtaking honesty," and was named a best poetry book of the year by the

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. ''Proprietary'', published in 2017, was a finalist for the 2018 Lambda Literary Award and the Northern California Book Award. In a review of ''Proprietary'',

Tess Taylor Tess Taylor (born October 24, 1977) is an American poet, academic, and a contributor to CNN and NPR. Early life and education Taylor was born and raised in El Cerrito, California, and attended Berkeley High School. She earned a Bachelor of A ...

on NPR's

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

said that "Mann imagines anew what it means to connect or to feel at a loss in the age of the Internet"; Nathan Blansett in The Kenyon Review wrote that "''Proprietary'' shows Mann at his most incisive"; and Walter Holland, writing in ''Lambda Literary'', wrote "Mann's work should be admired for its ferocity, its craft, and its unabashedly gay point of view." Mann is also the co-author of the textbook ''Writing Poems, Seventh Edition'', published by Pearson Longman in 2007.

Honors and awards

In 2004, Mann was named to the OUT 100 list by OUT Magazine. He was named a Laureate of the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Library Journals L ...

in 2010. In 2013, he received the J. Howard and Barbara M. J. Wood Prize from

Poetry Magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundat ...

Published works

Poetry collections

''Deal: New and Selected Poems''. Copper Canyon Press, 2023. . ''A Better Life''. Persea Books, 2021. . ''Proprietary''. Persea Books, 2017. . ''Straight Razor''. Persea Books, 2013. . ''Breakfast with Thom Gunn''. University of Chicago Press, 2009. . ''Complaint in the Garden''. Zoo Press, 2004. .

Co-authored book

''Writing Poems, Seventh Edition''. With

Michelle Boisseau Michelle Boisseau (October 26, 1955 – November 15, 2017) was an American poet. Life and career Boisseau was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 26, 1955. She attended Ohio University, where she receiver a BA in 1977 and an MA in 1980, and th ...

& Robert Wallace. Pearson Longman, 2007. .

References

External links

Randall Mann at the Poetry FoundationRandall Mann at the Academy of American PoetsInterview, The Adroit JournalInterview, Literary HubInterview, 32 Poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Randall American male poets University of Florida alumni Living people 1972 births American gay writers American LGBT poets LGBT people from Utah 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers Gay poets