Jeffrey Skinner is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, writer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in the Department of English at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

. His most recent collection of poetry is ''Salt Water Amnesia'', (Ausable Press, 2005). Skinner is editor of two anthologies of poems, ''Last Call: Poems of Alcoholism, Addiction, and Deliverance''; and ''Passing the Word: Poets and Their Mentors''. Skinner's poems have appeared in many literary journals and magazines, including ''The New Yorker'', ''The Atlantic'', ''The Nation'', ''The American Poetry Review'', ''Poetry'', ''The Georgia Review'' and ''The Paris Review''. Four of Skinner's plays have been finalists in the Eugene O'Neill Theater Conference competition, and his one-act, ''Damned Spot'', won the 2006 Paw Paw Village Players short play competition. His recent play ''Dream On'', had its premier full production in February 2007, by the Cardboard Box Collaborative Theatre in Philadelphia. His new play, ''Down Range'', is in development, and will receive a full production in New York City in the Spring of 2009. His poems, plays and stories have gathered grants, fellowships, and awards from such sources as the National Endowment for the Arts, the

Ingram Merrill Foundation The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet James Merrill (1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchyBraving the Elements ''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retriev ...

, the Howard Foundation, and the state arts agencies of Connecticut, Delaware, and Kentucky. He has been awarded residencies at

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

The Frost Place The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home on Ridge Road in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

, the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...

, and the Fine Arts Center in

Provincetown Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pr ...

. His work has been featured numerous times on National Public Radio. In 2002 Skinner served as Poet-in-Residence at the James Merrill House in

Stonington, Connecticut Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pa ...

. In 2014, Skinner was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in poetry. In 2015, he won an Arts and Letters Award in Literature by the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

. Jeffrey Skinner is Chair of the Board of Directors, and Editorial Consultant, for

Sarabande Books Sarabande Books is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1994. It is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, with an office in New York City. Sarabande publishes contemporary poetry and nonfiction. Sarabande is a literary press whos ...

, a literary publishing house founded by his wife

Sarah Gorham Sarah Gorham (born March 30, 1954) is an American poet, essayist, and publisher residing in Prospect, Kentucky. Background Gorham was educated at the Ecole d'Humanité, Ecole D'Humanité, an international boarding school in Switzerland and rece ...

Published works

* ''Salt Water Amnesia'' (Ausable Press, 2005) * ''Gender Studies'' (Miami University Press, 2002) * ''The Company of Heaven'' (

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

, 1992) * ''A Guide to Forgetting'' (

Graywolf Press Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the College of Saint Benedict, the Mel ...

, 1987 - a National Poetry Series winner) * ''Late Stars'' (

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present form ...

, 1985)

References

Sources

Sarabande Books Website - About Us - The Sarabandistas!

Author Website

External links

Audio: ''Slate Magazine'' > ''Self-made'' by Jeff Skinner

Audio: ''The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor'' > ''Modern Maturity'' by Jeff Skinner

Sarabande Books Website

Review of ''Last Call: Poems on Alcoholism, Addiction, & Deliverance''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Jeffrey American male poets Poets from Kentucky Writers from Louisville, Kentucky University of Louisville faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people National Endowment for the Arts Fellows