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Kevin Powers

ケビン・パワーズ

Kebin Pawāzu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
Richmond, Virginia, US
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Richmond, Virginia, US → Austin, Texas, US

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, soldier
Active Years
2012-

Education

Virginia Commonwealth University
English
Degree: BA
Period: 2004-2008
Year of Graduation: 2008
Country: United States
Bachelor's degree in English
University of Texas at Austin
MFA in Creative Writing
Degree: MFA
Country: United States
Michener Fellow in Poetry

Awards

Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize
2012
Work: The Yellow Birds
Organization: The Center for Fiction
Result: Shortlisted
Guardian First Book Award
2012
Work: The Yellow Birds
Organization: The Guardian
Result: Won
National Book Award for Fiction
2012
Work: The Yellow Birds
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Shortlisted
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
2013
Work: The Yellow Birds
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf
Result: Won
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
2013
Work: The Yellow Birds
Organization: PEN America
Result: Won
International Dublin Literary Award
2014
Work: The Yellow Birds
Organization: Dublin Literary Award
Result: Longlisted
Forward Prizes for Poetry (First Collection)
2014
Work: Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting
Category: First Collection
Organization: Forward Prizes
Result: Shortlisted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Yellow Birds

2012 Literary fiction (war fiction)

A novel drawing on the author's experience in the Iraq War, written in spare, poetic prose. It focuses on soldiers' experiences, memory, guilt and friendship, exploring loss and the psychological effects of war on individuals.

Iraq Warmemorylossguiltfriendship
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Yellow Birds / Alexandre Moors (2017)

Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting

2014 Poetry

A collection of poems that meditates on war memories and personal experience, revisiting the author's time as a soldier in poetic form.

war memorypersonal recollectionloss

A Shout in the Ruins

2018 Novel

A novel interweaving past and present, dealing with personal loss, recovery, and collective memory (summary concise).

lossmemoryrecovery

A Line in the Sand

2023 Novel

A more recent novel exploring relationships and historical contexts; specific plot details are summarized from available public information (some details unavailable).

relationshipshistoryconflict

Bibliography

  • The Yellow Birds (2012)
  • Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting (2014)
  • A Shout in the Ruins (2018)
  • A Line in the Sand (2023)

Adaptations

  • The Yellow Birds (film, 2017)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
sparse, poetic prosesensory and introspective narration
Recurring Motifs
war memoryguiltloss and recoveryfriendship

Legacy

His debut The Yellow Birds received wide acclaim and is regarded as an important contemporary work of war fiction. Multiple awards and nominations, critical praise, and a film adaptation have broadened his recognition.

Quotes

  • "At once a freshly imagined bildungsroman and a metaphysical parable about the loss of innocence and the uses of memory."
    Source: Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times (review) (2012)

Trivia

  • Enlisted in the U.S. Army at 17.
  • Served in Iraq (Mosul, Tal Afar) from February 2004 to March 2005.
  • Graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BA in English (2008).
  • Holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and was a Michener Fellow.