Morgan Parker (born December 19, 1987) is an American poet, novelist, and editor. She is the author of poetry collections ''Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night'' (Switchback Books, 2015), ''There are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé'' (

Tin House Books ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

, 2017), and ''Magical Negro'' (Tin House Books, 2019), which won the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

, 2019). She has been described as a "multidisciplinary phenom" for her diverse body of work.

Personal life and education

Parker completed her bachelor's degree in anthropology and creative writing at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and her MFA in poetry at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Parker was born and raised in Southern California before attending school in New York. She moved back to Southern California in 2017.

Career

Parker previously served as editor at Amazon Publishing's

Little A Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

an
Day One
She has taught creative writing at

, co-curates the Poets With Attitude (PWA) reading series with Tommy Pico, is the creator and host of Reparations, Live! at the

Ace Hotel Ace Hotel is a chain of hotels headquartered in Los Angeles and New York City. Founded in 1999 in Seattle, it operates hotels Internationally in 4 continents, with locations in; Brooklyn, New York City; Palm Springs, California; Seattle, Washing ...

in New York, and is a member of The Other Black Girl Collective with poet and performer Angel Nafis. Her poetry has been featured in publications including ''

The Awl ''The Awl'' was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day" based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid." History Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former ''Gawker'' editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk ...

'', ''

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States 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 philanthrop ...

'', ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

'', and others. Her work was also included in ''Why I Am Not A Painter'' (Argos Books), ''The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop'', ''Black Girl Magic: The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2'' and '' Best American Poetry 2016''. In December 2015, she was

's featured blogger.

''Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night'', Switchback Books, 2015

''Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night'' was Parker's debut collection, published in 2015, was rereleased in both the UK and US in 2021. In an interview with the London Review Bookshop upon the book rerelease, Parker discusses and reflects on her art with Rachel Long. In this they also discuss the importance of spoken word and humor, where Parker's boldness gives the poems a life beyond the page, weaving between humor, pathos and collapses the distinction between the personal and political. The rerelease opens with an introduction by

Danez Smith Danez Smith is an American poet, writer and performer from St. Paul, Minnesota. They are queer, non-binary and HIV-positive. They are the author of the poetry collections '' nsertBoy'' and ''Don't Call Us Dead: Poems'', both of which have receive ...

Morgan Parker knows we are looking. You could say Morgan Parker considers audience; I say she peeps game. She knows on the other side of the poem is another person, their being, their ways, their looking. These pages become screens for Parker to set the conditions of that witnessing, to set a control for the wildness of lyric and living captured in this collection. (Are they Morgan. Kinda. Yes. Maybe. No. And.) find themselves dreaming up ''Real World'' audition tapes, giving Real Housewives confessions, launching urgent and prayer-filled questions at Miss Black America. They know we're watching. Morgan knows. She looks back.

Other Works

Parker's nonfiction essay collection ''You Get What You Pay For'' was published on March 12, 2024. It was featured as one of Time Magazine's best new books of March 2024. Parker said in an interview with Vogue that completing the book was taxing due to the vulnerable nature of the subject matter.

Awards and honors

* 2012 Cave Canem Fellowship * 2013 Gatewood Prize * 2016

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

* 2017

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Literature Fellowship * 2019

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Tin House Books ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

, 2017 * ''Magical Negro'', Tin House Books, 2019 * ''Who Put This Song On?'', Delacorte Press, 2019 * ''You Get What You Pay For'', One World, 2024

Cover Art

Cover art for the first edition of ''Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night'' features an adaptation of work by Sam Vernon. The first U.S. edition of ''There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé'' features commissioned artwork by

Mickalene Thomas Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a contemporary African-American visual artist best known as a painter of complex works using rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel.

. The second edition features the photo ''Portrait of a Woman Fallen from Grace, 1987'' by

Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems (born April 20, 1953) is an American artist working in text, fabric, audio, digital images and Video installation, installation video, and is best known for her photography. She achieved prominence through her early 1990s photog ...

Further works

Parker also writes essays and articles in between publishing her books and poetry.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Morgan African-American poets Living people 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers Columbia College (New York) alumni 1987 births 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American women New York University alumni