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John R. Keene Jr.

ジョン・アール・キーン・ジュニア

John R. Keene Jr.

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1965-01-01 （St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Catholic
Residence History
St. Louis, Missouri (born/raised) → Webster Groves, Missouri (raised) → Evanston, Illinois (while at Northwestern University) → Newark, New Jersey (Rutgers University)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Translator, Professor, Poet, Artist
Active Years
1990-2025
Affiliations
Rutgers University–Newark (English & African American and African Studies), Northwestern University (former), Brown University (visiting/teaching), New York University (teaching), Dark Room Collective (member), Cave Canem (Graduate Fellow)
Memberships
Dark Room Collective (former member), Cave Canem (Graduate Fellow)
Influenced By
Hilda Hilst (influence via translation)

Education

Saint Louis Priory School
Country: United States
Attended parochial (church-affiliated) schools
Harvard College (Harvard University)
Degree: A.B.
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: United States
Active in Harvard Advocate and campus theater (C.A.S.T.)
New York University
MFA in Creative Writing
Degree: MFA
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: United States
Was a New York Times Foundation Fellow

Awards

MacArthur Fellowship
2018
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Poetry
2022
Work: Punks: New & Selected Poems
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Lambda Literary Award (Gay Poetry)
2022
Work: Punks: New & Selected Poems
Organization: Lambda Literary
Result: 受賞
Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Fiction)
2018
Category: Fiction
Organization: Yale University (Windham–Campbell Prize)
Result: 受賞
Whiting Award
2005
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: 受賞
American Book Award
2016
Work: Counternarratives
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
2016
Category: Fiction
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Harold D. Vursell Award for Distinguished Prose
2019
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Thom Gunn Prize
2022
Organization: The Publishing Triangle
Result: 受賞
AGNI / John Cheever Short Fiction Prize
2000
Work: An Outtake from the Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Organization: AGNI (magazine)
Result: 受賞
Fellowship in Fiction (Artists Foundation of Massachusetts & Massachusetts Cultural Council)
1990
Organization: Artists Foundation / Massachusetts Cultural Council
Result: 受賞
Fellow, New York Institute for the Humanities
2019
Organization: New York Institute for the Humanities
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Annotations

1995 Novel / Experimental fiction

An early experimental novel combining formal experiments with historical and narrative fragments.

memoryhistorylinguistic experimentation

Seismosis

2006 Poetry (in conversation with visual art)

A collection of poems presented in conversation with artwork by Christopher Stackhouse.

visuality and poetrymemory

Letters from a Seducer (translation)

2014 Translation (novel)

English translation of Hilda Hilst's novel Cartas de um sedutor.

translationinternational literature

Counternarratives

2015 Short fiction / Novella collection (experimental)

A linked collection of stories and novellas that reimagines the history and modernity of the Americas through multiple voices and forms.

reconstruction of historymultiplicity of voices

GRIND

2016 Art-poetry collaboration

An art-poetry collaboration with photographer Nicholas Muellner.

photographypoetrycollaboration

Playland

2016 Poetry (chapbook)

A chapbook containing a mixture of older and new poems.

nostalgiaurban life

Punks: New & Selected Poems

2021 Poetry (selected poems)

A selected poems volume with new work; won major awards including the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry.

identitycommunitylinguistic experimentation

Bibliography

  • Annotations (New Directions, 1995)
  • Seismosis (1913 Press, 2006)
  • Letters from a Seducer (translation of Hilda Hilst, Nightboat Books, 2014)
  • Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015)
  • GRIND (ITI Press, 2016)
  • Playland (Seven Kitchens Press, 2016)
  • Punks: New & Selected Poems (The Song Cave, 2021)

Translations of Works

  • Counternarratives (UK edition: Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2016)
  • Counternarratives (French edition: Éditions Cambourakis, 2016)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Experimental, fragmentary styleUses multiple voices and formsLinguistically and generically cross-disciplinary
Recurring Motifs
re-reading historymemory and legacyborders and movement

Legacy

John Keene is recognized for expanding contemporary American literature—particularly African American literary expression—through experimental fiction, poetry, and translation. He has received major literary awards and serves as an influential educator.

Academic Societies

  • Cave Canem (associated fellowship)

Archives

  • Rutgers University (possible holdings/archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in literary contexts, university courses, and symposia; a subject of study in contemporary poetry and short fiction scholarship

Quotes

  • Counternarratives is an extraordinary work of literature. Keene is a dense, intricate, and magnificent writer.
    Source: Christine Smallwood (review in Harper's Magazine) (2015)

Trivia

  • Was involved with the Harvard Advocate while at Harvard.
  • Longtime member of the Dark Room Collective.
  • Often noted as an African-American Catholic writer in biographical categorizations.
  • Contributed to international literature through translations of writers such as Hilda Hilst.