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Randall Kenan

ランドール・キーナン

Randaru Kīnan

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1963-03-12 （Brooklyn, New York, U.S.）
Died
2020-08-28 （Hillsborough, North Carolina, U.S.） age 57
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Brooklyn, New York (birth) → Wallace, Duplin County, North Carolina (childhood) → Chinquapin, North Carolina (family farm visits) → Hillsborough, North Carolina (later life/home)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Professor
Active Years
1989-2020
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (English faculty, professor), Sarah Lawrence College (visiting/part-time instructor), Columbia University (visiting/part-time instructor), Vassar College (visiting/part-time instructor), Duke University (visiting writer), University of Mississippi (visiting writer), University of Memphis (visiting writer), University of Nebraska–Lincoln (visiting writer)
Influenced By
James Baldwin, Doris Betts, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov
Influenced
Contemporary Black queer writers and scholars (influence on scholarship), Tayari Jones (wrote introduction to posthumous collection)
Nominations
Los Angeles Times Book Award (Fiction) nomination (Let the Dead Bury Their Dead), National Book Critics Circle Award (finalist, short story collection), Southern Book Award nomination (Walking on Water)

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
English and Creative Writing
Degree: 学士（英語・創作）
Period: 1981–1985
Year of Graduation: 1985
Country: United States
Shifted focus to creative writing during undergraduate studies

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Whiting Award
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: 受賞
John Dos Passos Prize
Organization: John Dos Passos Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Sherwood Anderson Award
Organization: Sherwood Anderson Award body
Result: 受賞
Rome Prize (American Academy of Arts and Letters)
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
New York Times Notable Book
1992
Work: Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
Organization: The New York Times
Result: 選出
National Book Award (Longlist)
2020
Work: If I Had Two Wings
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: ロングリスト入り

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Visitation of Spirits

1989 Novel (Southern literature, magical realism)

Set in the fictional Tims Creek, North Carolina, the novel intertwines religion, identity, sexuality, and supernatural elements to portray the struggles of young people and the history of their community.

religionracequeer identitythe supernatural

Let the Dead Bury Their Dead

1992 Short story collection (Southern literature)

A collection of stories set in Tims Creek that explores poverty, blackness, and being gay within a Southern context.

Southern societypovertyrace and sexualityintergenerational history

Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

1999 Non-fiction (oral histories/interviews)

A compilation of diverse Black American life narratives collected across the United States, presenting contemporary Black life alongside photographic material.

oral historycommunitycontemporary Black experience

The Fire This Time

2007 Essays / Non-fiction

A collection of essays engaging with race and American society, thematically referencing James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time.

race discoursehistory and memorysocial criticism

If I Had Two Wings

2020 Short story collection

A late short-story collection addressing themes of mortality, memory, and transformation.

death and memorytransformationcommunity

Black Folk Could Fly: Selected Writings

2022 Essay collection (posthumous)

A posthumous collection of essays originally published in magazines and quarterlies, including introductions and commentary.

cultural criticismliterary commentarypersonal reminiscence

Bibliography

  • A Visitation of Spirits (1989)
  • Let the Dead Bury Their Dead (1992)
  • James Baldwin: American Writer (1993)
  • A Time Not Here: The Mississippi Delta (1997)
  • Walking on Water (1999)
  • The Fire This Time (2007)
  • If I Had Two Wings (2020)
  • Black Folk Could Fly: Selected Writings (2022, posthumous)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
blend of Black Southern life and magical realismcolloquial yet lyrical narrationuse of folklore and biblical allusion
Recurring Motifs
the fictional Tims Creek communityreligion and redemptionqueer transformation and identitysupernatural and mythic elements

Legacy

Randall Kenan occupies an important place in Black Southern literature, queer studies, and Afrofuturist readings; his layered portrayals of Southern religiosity and personal sexuality have been influential. He was also influential as a teacher of emerging writers and scholars.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (associated awarding body)

Archives

  • University of North Carolina related archives (possible holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared on C-SPAN and other programs, bringing his work to wider audiences
  • Frequently studied in academic scholarship and used in curricula

Trivia

  • He grew up reading comics, science fiction, and fairy tales, which influenced his writing.
  • A great admirer of James Baldwin; he wrote a young-adult biography of Baldwin.
  • At his death he left an unfinished manuscript titled There's a Man Going 'Round Taking Names.