Terrance Hayes (born November 18, 1971 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a prize-winning American poet. His recent poetry collection Lighthead (Penguin, 2010) won the National Book Award for Poetry. His second collection, Hip Logic (2002), won the National Poetry Series, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and runner-up for the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets.[1] His first book of poetry, Muscular Music (1999), won both the Whiting Writers Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award.[2] His poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Fence, The Kenyon Review, Jubilat Harvard Review, West Branch and Poetry.[3]
Hayes earned his B.A. from Coker College and an M.F.A. from the University of Pittsburgh writing program. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University.[4] He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, the poet Yona Harvey, and their children.[5][6]
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Full-Length Poetry Collections
In praising Hayes's work, Cornelius Eady has said: "First you'll marvel at his skill, his near-perfect pitch, his disarming humor, his brilliant turns of phrase. Then you'll notice the grace, the tenderness, the unblinking truth-telling just beneath his lines, the open and generous way he takes in our world."[11]