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Nathaniel Mackey

ネイサニエル・マッキー

Neisanieru Makkii

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1947-01-01 （Miami, Florida, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Moved to California in early childhood → Santa Cruz, California (on faculty: 1979–2010) → Durham, North Carolina (Duke University, since 2010)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, editor, anthologist, literary critic, professor
Active Years
1974-
Affiliations
Duke University (Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing), University of California, Santa Cruz (former faculty), Hambone (poetry journal, editor/publisher)
Memberships
The Academy of American Poets (Chancellor)
Influenced By
Black Mountain poets, Kamau Brathwaite, Jazz music (experimental/improvisational traditions)
Influenced
Contemporary experimental poets (influenced a range of writers)

Education

Princeton University
Degree: BA
Country: United States
Visit as a high school student influenced decision to attend; exact graduation year unknown (set to 0).
Stanford University
Literature (PhD program)
Degree: PhD
Period: 1970年代（入学: 1970）
Country: United States
Dissertation on the Black Mountain poets; exact completion year unknown (set to 0).

Awards

Whiting Award
1993
Organization: The Whiting Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Award (Poetry)
2006
Work: Splay Anthem
Category: Poetry
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award
2007
Organization: Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2010
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
2014
Organization: The Poetry Foundation
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Prize (for American Poetry)
2015
Organization: Yale University (administered Bollingen Prize)
Result: 受賞
Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry (Lifetime Achievement)
2016
Organization: Library of Congress (associated)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Splay Anthem

2006 Poetry

A collection of poems influenced by jazz improvisation exploring memory, listening, and cultural cross-currents.

music and poetrymemorycross-culturalitydiaspora

From a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate (series)

1986 Fiction (experimental, serial)

A serial prose project composed of epistolary and fragmentary pieces that use jazz improvisation and listening to examine culture and identity.

improvisationmusiclinguistic experimentationhistory and memory

Bedouin Hornbook

1986 Fiction

The first book in the Broken Bottle series; a letter-based narrative inspired by the experience of being the only audience member at a jazz performance.

isolationmusiccommunity

Djbot Baghostus's Run

1993 Fiction

The second volume in the Broken Bottle series, exploring improvisation and cultural questions through fragmentary letters and narratives.

fragmentationcross-culturalitymusic

Atet A. D.

2001 Fiction

A volume of the Broken Bottle series combining historical and narrative fragments in experimental prose.

historyfragmented narrativevoice and listening

Bass Cathedral

2008 Fiction

A later volume in the Broken Bottle series further exploring music and narrative intersections.

musicritualnarration

Late Arcade

2017 Fiction

A recent volume of the Broken Bottle series, continuing the long-form serial project.

continuitymemorymusical structures

Bibliography

  • Four for Trane (chapbook, 1978)
  • Septet for the End of Time (chapbook, 1983)
  • Eroding Witness (poetry, 1985)
  • Bedouin Hornbook (fiction, 1986)
  • Djbot Baghostus's Run (fiction, 1993)
  • School of Udhra (poetry, 1993)
  • Whatsaid Serif (poetry, 1998)
  • Atet A. D. (fiction, 2001)
  • Splay Anthem (poetry, 2006)
  • Bass Cathedral (fiction, 2008)
  • Nod House (poetry, 2011)
  • Blue Fasa (poetry, 2016)
  • Late Arcade (fiction, 2017)
  • Double Trio (boxed set: Tej Bet / So's Notice / Nerve Church, 2021)
  • Lay Ghost (collection, 2016)

Adaptations

  • Participation in the Add-Verse poetry-photo-video project

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental style incorporating jazz improvisationfragmentary and serial long-form compositioncross-culturality
Recurring Motifs
listeningmusic and rhythmmemory and historydiasporic imagery

Legacy

Nathaniel Mackey is a major contemporary poet and novelist who fuses jazz improvisation with poetic experiment; he has had significant impact as a critic and editor and is widely regarded as an important figure in American poetry.

Museums

  • Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (Emory University) Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Academic Societies

  • The Academy of American Poets (Chancellor)

Archives

  • Nathaniel Mackey papers, 1947-2011 (Emory University Rose Library)

In Popular Culture

  • Participation in Add-Verse (poetry-photo-video collaboration)

Quotes

  • "...Mackey's series of improvisatory jazz-inspired fictions locates a ground between invention and listening that he defines as the source of culture itself."
    Source: Barrett Watten (commentary)

Trivia

  • Became involved with the poetry journal Hambone in 1974 and has been its sole editor/publisher since 1982.
  • Married Pascale Gaitet in 1991; has three children (Naima, Gabriella, Ian).
  • Moved from UC Santa Cruz to Duke University in 2010.
  • Won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2006 for Splay Anthem.