Kenneth Lee Irby (November 18, 1936 – July 30, 2015) was 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 ...

. He won a 2010

Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is ...

. He is sometimes associated with the

Black Mountain poets The Black Mountain poets, also called projectivist poets, were a group of mid-20th-century American ''avant-garde'' or postmodern poets based at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Historical background and definition Although it lasted ...

, especially with Robert Duncan,

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...

, and

Ed Dorn Edward Merton Dorn (April 2, 1929 – December 10, 1999) was an American poet and teacher often associated with the Black Mountain poets. His most famous work is ''Gunslinger''. Overview Dorn was born in Villa Grove, Illinois. He grew up in ru ...

. He was born in Bowie,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and In 1940 he moved to Fort Scott, Kansas with his family. He graduated from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with an A.M., and from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

with a M.L.S. degree. From 1971-1975 he taught in the English department at Tufts Universit

He was a visiting professor at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

on a Fulbright grant. Irby's last role was as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

at the University of Kansas. A colloquium held at the University of Kansas on November 5, 2011 honored Irby's work, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Contributions were made by fellow poets Joseph Harrington, Denise Low, Benjamin Friedlander,

Pierre Joris Pierre Joris (July 14, 1946 – February 26, 2025) was a Luxembourgish- American poet, essayist, translator, and anthologist. He moved between Europe, North Africa, and the United States for fifty-five years, publishing over eighty books of poet ...

, and

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian ( ; May 17, 1941 – February 24, 2024) was an American poet, essayist, translator, and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon (publisher), Sun & Moon, 198 ...

. He died on 30 July 2015 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Works

* * * ''Studies'', First Intensiy Press, 2001, * ''Ridge to Ridge'', Other Wind Press, 2001, * ''Antiphonal and Fall to Fall'', Kavyayantra Press, 1994 * ''Call Steps'', Station Hill/Tansy, 1992;Station Hill Authors - Kenneth Irby
Midpoint Trade Books Inc, 1997, * ''Orexis'', Station Hill, 1981, * ''Catalpa'', Tansy Press, 1977 * ''Archipelago'', Tuumba Press, 1976 * ''To Max Douglas'', Tansy Peg Leg Press, 1974 * ''Relation: poems, 1965-1966'', Black Sparrow, 1970. * ''The flower of having passed through paradise in a dream: poems, 1967'', Kelly, 1968

References

External links

"Kenneth Irby"
''Penn Sound''
University of Buffalo review of Irby's poems

Kenneth Irby
a
Poets & Writers
1936 births 2015 deaths University of California, Berkeley School of Information alumni Harvard University alumni University of Kansas faculty Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen University of Kansas alumni {{US-poet-1930s-stub