American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 23 (2002) Winner
Alexander Kuo
アレクサンダー・クオ
Alexander Kuo
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1939-01-19 （Boston, Massachusetts, USA）
- Died
- 2025-06-11 age 86
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Boston (birth) → Chongqing (childhood) → Shanghai (childhood) → Hong Kong (raised) → United States (education & career)
Career
- Occupations
- teacher, poet, fiction writer, essayist
- Active Years
- 1960-2012
- Affiliations
- Washington State University (Professor), Peking University (visiting), Jilin University (visiting), Beijing Forestry University (visiting), Hong Kong Baptist University (visiting)
- Influenced By
- Donald Justice, Philip Roth
- Influenced
- Sherman Alexie (mentee)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knox College | — | English / English Literature | B.A. | 1957-1961 | United States |
| University of Iowa (Iowa Writer's Workshop) | — | Creative Writing (Iowa Writer's Workshop) | M.F.A. | — | United States |
Knox College
English / English Literature
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
1957-1961
Year of Graduation:
1961
Country:
United States
Studied with Sam Moon and Gogisgi
University of Iowa (Iowa Writer's Workshop)
Creative Writing (Iowa Writer's Workshop)
Degree:
M.F.A.
Country:
United States
Studied with Donald Justice and Philip Roth
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | American Book Award | Lipstick and Other Stories | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
| — | National Endowment for the Arts (grant) | — | — | National Endowment for the Arts | 助成（複数回） |
| 1991 | Fulbright Scholar | — | — | Fulbright Program | 受与 / 任命 |
| 2003 | Rockefeller Foundation grant (Bellagio residency) | — | — | Rockefeller Foundation | 助成 |
American Book Award
2002
Work:
Lipstick and Other Stories
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
National Endowment for the Arts (grant)
Organization:
National Endowment for the Arts
Result:
助成（複数回）
Fulbright Scholar
1991
Organization:
Fulbright Program
Result:
受与 / 任命
Rockefeller Foundation grant (Bellagio residency)
2003
Organization:
Rockefeller Foundation
Result:
助成
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Window Tree
1974 PoetryAn early collection of poems reflecting personal memory and cultural background.
memoryidentity
Lipstick and Other Stories
2001 Short storiesA collection of short stories dealing with cross-cultural experiences and family history. Critically acclaimed and winner of the American Book Award.
immigrationcultural hybridityfamily
Chinese Opera
1998 NovelA novel set at the cultural crossroads of China and America, interweaving history and personal narratives.
historycultural conflict
Mao’s Kisses: A Novel of June 4, 1989
2019 NovelFiction set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen events, questioning the relationship between politics and the individual.
politicsmemoryreconsideration of history
A Chinaman’s Chance: New and Selected Poems 1960-2010
2011 PoetryA selected poems collection covering 1960-2010, featuring multicultural perspectives and personal retrospection.
multiculturalismretrospection
Translations
Bibliography
- The Window Tree (1974)
- New Letters from Hiroshima, and Other Poems (1974)
- Changing the River (1986)
- This Fierce Geography (1998)
- A Chinaman’s Chance: New and Selected Poems 1960-2010 (2011)
- Meeting Words at the Gate (Bilingual English/Chinese, 2015)
- Chinese Opera (novel, 1998)
- Lipstick and Other Stories (short stories, 2001)
- Panda Diaries (novel, 2006)
- White Jade and Other Stories (short stories, 2008)
- The Man Who Dammed the Yangtze: A Mathematical Novel (2011)
- shanghai.shanghai.shanghai (novel, 2015)
- Mao’s Kisses: A Novel of June 4, 1989 (novel, 2019)
- My Private China (nonfiction, 2013)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- experimental and metaphorical stylepolyphonic narration reflecting cultural hybridity
- Recurring Motifs
- immigration and belongingmemory and family historyintersection of Eastern and Western cultures
Legacy
Alexander Kuo was known for works depicting the cultural crossroads of East Asia and America, offering multicultural voices across poetry, fiction, and essays. As a university professor he mentored many writers and contributed to US-China academic and literary exchange.
Academic Societies
- Washington State University (departmental affiliation)
Archives
- Washington State University library/archives (possible holdings)
In Popular Culture
- Mentioned as a mentor and influence for writers such as Sherman Alexie
Quotes
-
Kuo's writing makes demands on the reader in a way comparable to Franz Kafka or Jorge Luis Borges.
Source: Robert H. Abel (review), Asian Review of Books, 2001 (2001)
Trivia
- Born in Boston in 1939 but raised in China and Hong Kong during early childhood.
- Won the American Book Award in 2002 for Lipstick and Other Stories.
- Longtime English professor at Washington State University; retired in 2012.
- Known as one of the mentors of Sherman Alexie.
- Died on June 11, 2025, at age 86.