American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (1996) Winner
Kimiko Hahn
キミコ・ハーン
Kimiko Hahn
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1955-07-05 （Mount Kisco, New York）
- Nationality
- American
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Mount Kisco, New York → Pleasantville, New York → Tokyo, Japan (resided 1964–1965) → New York City (base)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Professor
- Active Years
- 1980-
- Affiliations
- Queens College, CUNY, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Houston
- Influenced By
- Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, Adrienne Rich, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Iowa | College of Liberal Arts (English & East Asian Studies) | English & East Asian Studies | B.A. | 1973–1977 | United States |
| Columbia University | Graduate School | Japanese Literature | M.A. | 1978–1981 | United States |
University of Iowa
College of Liberal Arts (English & East Asian Studies)
/ English & East Asian Studies
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
1973–1977
Year of Graduation:
1977
Country:
United States
Bachelor's degree in English and East Asian Studies
Columbia University
Graduate School
/ Japanese Literature
Degree:
M.A.
Period:
1978–1981
Year of Graduation:
1981
Country:
United States
Master's degree in Japanese Literature
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize | — | — | Poetry Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1996 | American Book Award | The Unbearable Heart | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2008 | PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry | — | — | PEN America | 受賞 |
| 1993 | Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize | Earshot | — | Roethke Prize committee | 受賞 |
| — | Shelley Memorial Award | — | — | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 2010 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞（フェローシップ） |
| 2025 | New York State Poet (Poet Laureate of New York) | — | 詩人代表任期 | New York State Writers Institute | 任命（2年任期） |
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
2023
Organization:
Poetry Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Book Award
1996
Work:
The Unbearable Heart
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
2008
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
受賞
Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize
1993
Work:
Earshot
Organization:
Roethke Prize committee
Result:
受賞
Shelley Memorial Award
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2010
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞（フェローシップ）
New York State Poet (Poet Laureate of New York)
2025
Category:
詩人代表任期
Organization:
New York State Writers Institute
Result:
任命（2年任期）
Awards & Nominations
Asian American Literary Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 14 (2011) Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 38 (2023) Winner
Works
Major Works
Earshot
1992 PoetryEarly collection exploring body and memory through personal voice and experimental forms.
embodimentmemoryidentity
The Unbearable Heart
1995 PoetryA collection addressing motherhood, desire, and loss from an Asian American female perspective.
motherhooddesireloss
Mosquito and Ant
1999 PoetryAn experimental collection exploring intersections of language, sound, and culture.
linguistic experimentcultural intersection
The Artist's Daughter
2002 PoetryPoems reflecting on family and upbringing as the child of artists.
familyartistic identityorigins
The Narrow Road to the Interior
2006 Poetry (zuihitsu-influenced / hybrid forms)A collection influenced by Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi, incorporating zuihitsu, collage, and hybrid forms.
references to Japanese cultureformal experimentationsubjectivity
Toxic Flora
2010 PoetryPoems that interrogate the personal and social via images of nature, the body, and toxicity.
naturethe bodytoxicity
Brain Fever
2014 PoetryA collection that uses medical and scientific imagery to explore the intersections of emotion and reason.
scientific imagerymind-body
Foreign Bodies
2020 PoetryA recent collection foregrounding questions of otherness, foreignness, and the body.
foreignnessthe bodyotherness
The Ghost Forest: New and Selected Poems
2024 Poetry (new and selected)A new-and-selected volume that surveys themes and formal developments across her career.
retrospectivedevelopment of themes
Bibliography
- Air Pocket (1989)
- Earshot (1992)
- The Unbearable Heart (1995)
- Volatile / Pine (1998–1999)
- Mosquito and Ant (1999)
- The Artist's Daughter (2002)
- The Narrow Road to the Interior (2006)
- Toxic Flora (2010)
- Boxes with Respect (2011)
- The Cryptic Chamber (2013)
- Brain Fever (2014)
- Write It! (2019)
- Foreign Bodies (2020)
- The Ghost Forest: New and Selected Poems (2024)
Adaptations
- Ain't Nuthin' But a She-Thing (HBO special, 1995)
- Everywhere at Once (film by Holly Fisher, premiered 2007)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- experimental poetic formshybrid style incorporating zuihitsu-like elementscollage techniques
- Recurring Motifs
- the bodymotherhooddesireracial/ethnic hybriditynature/animalsscientific and medical imagery
Legacy
Kimiko Hahn is celebrated for fusing formal experimentation with a multicultural perspective. She has received major awards and was named New York State Poet in 2025, among other honors.
Academic Societies
- Association for Asian American Studies
- Poetry Society of America
In Popular Culture
- Contributed texts and voice work to film/TV (e.g., Everywhere at Once)
Quotes
-
With wild courage Kimiko Hahn's poems voyage fearlessly into explorations of love, sexuality, motherhood, violence, and grief and the way gender inscribes us.
Source: Judges' citation for the PEN/Voelcker Award (2008)
Trivia
- Both parents were artists; mother was Japanese American from Maui, father was German American from Wisconsin.
- Lived in Tokyo in 1964–1965.
- Married true-crime writer Harold Schechter in 2002.
- Named New York State Poet (Poet Laureate of New York) in 2025.