Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1994) Winner
Yusef Komunyakaa
ユセフ・コムニャカー
Yusefu Komunyakaa
Pen Names:
Yusef Komunyakaa（Used professionally; birth name James William Brown.）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1941-04-29 （Bogalusa, Louisiana, U.S.）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Bogalusa, Louisiana → Colorado Springs / Colorado (college period) → New Orleans (teaching) → Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University faculty) → Princeton, New Jersey (Princeton University faculty) → New York City (New York University faculty)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Professor, Writer
- Active Years
- 1973-
- Affiliations
- Indiana University Bloomington (former faculty), Princeton University Program in Creative Writing (former faculty), New York University Creative Writing Program (faculty), Fellowship of Southern Writers (member)
- Memberships
- Fellowship of Southern Writers (member)
- Influenced By
- Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Phillis Wheatley, Robert Hayden, Pablo Neruda, Walt Whitman
- Nominations
- Shortlisted for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Colorado, Colorado Springs | — | — | BA | — | United States |
| Colorado State University | — | Writing | MA | — | United States |
| University of California, Irvine | — | Creative Writing | MFA | — | United States |
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Degree:
BA
Country:
United States
Undergraduate; involved in campus literary publication
Colorado State University
Writing
Degree:
MA
Year of Graduation:
1978
Country:
United States
MA in Writing
University of California, Irvine
Creative Writing
Degree:
MFA
Year of Graduation:
1980
Country:
United States
Received an MFA in creative writing
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award | Neon Vernacular | — | Kingsley Tufts Foundation | Winner |
| 1994 | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry | Neon Vernacular | — | Pulitzer Prize Board | Winner |
| — | Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize | — | — | Poetry Foundation | Winner |
| 2007 | Louisiana Writer Award | — | — | Louisiana cultural agencies | Winner |
| — | Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award | — | — | Zbigniew Herbert Award organization | Winner |
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
1994
Work:
Neon Vernacular
Organization:
Kingsley Tufts Foundation
Result:
Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1994
Work:
Neon Vernacular
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
Organization:
Poetry Foundation
Result:
Winner
Louisiana Writer Award
2007
Organization:
Louisiana cultural agencies
Result:
Winner
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award
Organization:
Zbigniew Herbert Award organization
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 75 (1994) Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 16 (2001) Winner
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 9 (2021) Winner
Lannan Literary Awards
2 appearances
-
Edition 100 (2021, held 2 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
-
Edition 231 (2021, held 3 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
Works
Major Works
Dien Cai Dau
1988 Poetry (war poetry)A collection addressing Komunyakaa's experiences in the Vietnam War, exploring memory, trauma, and the veteran's perspective.
WarMemoryTraumaIdentity
Neon Vernacular
1993 PoetryA landmark collection addressing Southern experience, African American life, and personal memory through vivid imagery.
The SouthAfrican American experienceRemembranceUrban and rural
Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems, 1975–1999
2001 Poetry (collected poems)A collected volume of major poems since 1975, including the well-known 'Facing It.'
WarMemoryHuman relationshipsReligious motifs
The Chameleon Couch
2011 PoetryOne of his later collections, mixing personal retrospection with contemporary subjects.
MemoryTransformationPersonal history
Gilgamesh
2006 Drama (poetic adaptation)A poetic adaptation of the Epic of Gilgamesh transformed into a stage play; it has been produced onstage.
EpicHeroismMortality
Adaptations
- [Stage] Gilgamesh / Robert Scanlon (2008)
Bibliography
- Dedications and Other Darkhorses (1977)
- Lost in the Bone Wheel Factory (1979)
- I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head (1986)
- Toys in a Field (1986)
- Dien Cai Dau (1988)
- Magic City (1992)
- Neon Vernacular (1993)
- Thieves of Paradise (1998)
- Pleasure Dome (2001)
- Talking Dirty to the Gods (2000/2001)
- Taboo (2004)
- Gilgamesh (2006)
- Warhorses (2008)
- The Chameleon Couch (2011)
- The Emperor of Water Clocks (2015)
Adaptations
- Gilgamesh (stage adaptation)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Dense, insinuatory styleImagery-driven poetryBlend of colloquial rhythms and lyricism
- Recurring Motifs
- War experience and memorySouthern landscapes and peopleBiblical and religious symbolismReminiscence and loss
Legacy
Komunyakaa is highly regarded for his Vietnam War poetry and works depicting Southern and African American experience. His 1994 Pulitzer Prize and other honors have made him an important voice in contemporary American poetry.
Academic Societies
- Fellowship of Southern Writers
Archives
- Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yusef Komunyakaa Papers)
In Popular Culture
- 'Facing It' is frequently cited and anthologized in the context of Vietnam War remembrance.
Quotes
-
Poetry is a kind of distilled insinuation. It’s a way of expanding and talking around an idea or a question.
Source: Interview (cited in Blue Notes and other sources)
Trivia
- Birth name James William Brown.
- Served in the Vietnam War; experiences influenced much of his poetry.
- Won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 'Neon Vernacular'.
- Reclaimed the family/ancestral name 'Komunyakaa' as his professional name.