Kevin Prufer

Kevin D. Prufer (born 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American poet, academic, editor, and essayist. His most recent books are Churches (Four Way Books, 2014), In A Beautiful Country (Four Way Books, 2011) and National Anthem (Four Way Books, 2008).

Life

Prufer received a B.A. at Wesleyan University and an M.A. at the Hollins University Writing Program. He went on to earn an MFA at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently Professor of English in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston and Editor-at-Large of Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing,^[1] Associate Editor of American Book Review,^[2] Co-Curator of the Unsung Masters Series, and the former Vice President/Secretary of the National Book Critics Circle.^[3] Prufer currently resides in Houston, Texas with artist and critic Mary Hallab.^[4] He is Professor of English in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.

Career

He has published poems, essays, and reviews in literary journals and magazines including The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, Poetry, A Public Space, AGNI, The New Republic, The Kenyon Review,^[4] Boston Review, Georgia Review, and in The Best American Poetry (2003 & 2009).

His honors include four Pushcart Prizes, and awards from the Poetry Society of America, the Academy of American Poets, The Lannan Foundation and other organizations. His first book, Strange Wood, received the 1997 Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize (formerly the Winthrop Prize).^[5] He has also been awarded a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Poetry.^[6]

Published works

Full-Length Poetry Collections

• Churches (Four Way Books, 2014)
• In A Beautiful Country (Four Way Books, 2011)
• National Anthem (Four Way Books, 2008)
• Fallen from a Chariot (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2005)
• The Finger Bone (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2002)
• Strange Wood (Louisiana State University Press, 1998)

Anthologies Edited

• Literary Publishing in the 21st Century (Milkweed Editions, 2016, with Wayne Miller and Travis Kurowski)
• Catherine Breese Davis: On the Life and Work of an American Master (Unsung Masters Series, 2015, with Martha Collins and Martin Rock)
• Russell Atkins: On the Life and Work of an American Master (Unsung Masters Series, 2013)
• Until Everything is Continuous Again: On the Work of W. S. Merwin (WordFarm, 2012, with Jonathan Weinert)
• Dunstan Thompson: On the Life & Work of a Lost American Master (Pleiades Press, 2010, with D.A. Powell)
• New European Poets (Graywolf Press, 2008, with Wayne Miller)
• Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems (University of Illinois Press, 2007, with Joy Katz)
• The New Young American Poets (Southern Illinois University Press, 2000)

Poetry Collections In Translation

• Wir wollten Amerika finden (Luxbooks, 2011) (German translation by Norbert Lange and Susanna Mewe)

Honors and awards

• 2016 Pushcart Prize
• 2014 The New York Times "Ten Favorite Poetry Books of 2014" for Churches
• 2013 Finalist, The Poets Prize
• 2012 Academy of American Poets Notable Book
• 2011 Finalist, The Rilke Prize
• Best American Poetry 2010
• 2010 Lannan Foundation Fellowship
• 2009 Finalist, The Poets Prize
• 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Poetry
• 2007 Pushcart Prize
• 2006 George Bogin Memorial Award
• 2004 George Bogin Memorial Award
• 2004 Pushcart Prize
• Best American Poetry 2003
• 2002 Pushcart Prize
• 1997 Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize

References

1. ↑ "Editors". Pleiades & Pleiades Press. Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
2. ↑ "American Book Review". LitLine. Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
3. ↑ "Board of Directors". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
4. 1 2 Prufer, Kevin. "Kevin Prufer". Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
5. ↑ "Kevin D. Prufer". PoetryMagazine.com. Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
6. ↑ "FY 2007 Grant Awards: Literature Fellowships in Poetry". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2006-12-20. 

External links

• Kevin Prufer's personal website
• Kevin Prufer's faculty page at the University of Houston
• Poems by Kevin Prufer
• Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing