Kevin D. Prufer (born 1969 in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

) 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 ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

. He is Professor of English in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.

Life

Prufer graduated from

Western Reserve Academy Western Reserve Academy (WRA), or simply Reserve, is a private, midsized, coeducational boarding and day college preparatory school located in Hudson, Ohio, United States. A boarding school, Western Reserve Academy is largely a residential ...

in 1988. He received a B.A. at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and an M.A. at the

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...

Writing Program. He went on to earn an MFA at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. He is currently

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 ...

of English in the Creative Writing Program at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

and Editor-at-Large of '' Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing'', Associate Editor of '' American Book Review'', Co-Curator of the Unsung Masters Series, and the former Vice President/Secretary of the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c) organization, 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the N ...

. Prufer currently resides in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, with

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

Mary Hallab.

Career

He has published poems, essays, and reviews in literary journals and magazines including ''The Paris Review'', ''American Poetry Review'', ''Poetry'', ''A Public Space'', ''AGNI'', ''The New Republic'', ''The Kenyon Review'', ''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

, Georgia Review'', and in '' The Best American Poetry'' (2003, 2009, 2021). His honors include five

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

s, and awards from the

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

, the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

, The Lannan Foundation and other organizations. His first book, ''Strange Wood'', received the 1997 Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize (formerly the Winthrop Prize). He has also been awarded a 2007

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Literature Fellowship in Poetry.

Published works

Full-Length Books * ''Strange Wood'' (

Louisiana State University Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of University Pres ...

, 1998) * ''The Finger Bone'' (

Carnegie Mellon University Press Carnegie Mellon University Press is a publisher that is part of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The press specializes in literary publishing, in particular, poetry. The press is cur ...

, 2002) * ''Fallen from a Chariot'' (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2005) * ''National Anthem'' ( Four Way Books, 2008) * ''In A Beautiful Country'' (Four Way Books, 2011) * ''Churches'' (Four Way Books, 2014) * ''How He Loved Them'' (Four Way Books, 2018) * ''The Art of Fiction'' (Four Way Books, 2021) * ''The Fears'' (Copper Canyon Press, 2023) * ''Sleepaway: a Novel'' (Acre Books, 2024) Anthologies Edited * ''The New Young American Poets'' (

Southern Illinois University Press Southern Illinois University Press or SIU Press, founded in 1956, is a university press located in Carbondale, Illinois, owned and operated by Southern Illinois University. The press publishes approximately 50 titles annually, among its more th ...

, 2000) * ''Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems'' (

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...

, 2007, with Joy Katz) * ''New European Poets'' (

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 ...

, 2008, with Wayne Miller) * ''Dunstan Thompson: On the Life & Work of a Lost American Master'' ( Pleiades Press, 2010, with D. A. Powell) * ''Until Everything is Continuous Again: On the Work of W. S. Merwin'' ( WordFarm, 2012, with Jonathan Weinert) * '' Russell Atkins: On the Life and Work of an American Master'' (Unsung Masters Series, 2013, with Michael Dumanis) * ''Catherine Breese Davis: On the Life and Work of an American Master'' (Unsung Masters Series, 2015, with Martha Collins and Martin Rock) * ''Literary Publishing in the 21st Century'' (Milkweed Editions, 2016, with Wayne Miller and Travis Kurowski) * ''Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries'' (

, 2017, with Martha Collins) Poetry Collections In Translation * ''Wir wollten Amerika finden'' ( Luxbooks, 2011) (German translation by Norbert Lange and Susanna Mewe) * ''Himno Nacional'' ( Bartleby Editores, 2021) (Spanish translation by multiple translators)

Honors and awards

* 1997 Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize * 2002 Pushcart Prize * Best American Poetry 2003 * 2004

George Bogin Memorial Award The Poetry Society of America's George Bogin Memorial Award is given "by the family and friends of George Bogin for a selection of four or five poems that use language in an original way to reflect the encounter of the ordinary and the extraordinar ...

* 2004 Pushcart Prize * 2006

* 2007

Literature Fellowship in Poetry * 2007 Pushcart Prize * Best American Poetry 2009 * 2009 Finalist, The Poets Prize * Best American Poetry 2010 * 2010 Lannan Foundation Fellowship * 2011 Finalist, The Rilke Prize * 2012 Academy of American Poets Notable Book * 2013 Finalist, The Poets Prize * 2014 ''The New York Times'' "Ten Favorite Poetry Books of 2014" for ''Churches'' * 2016 Pushcart Prize * 2018 Lyric Prize of the Poetry Society of America * 2019 Long-list, the Pulitzer Prize for poetry * 2019 Winner, The Julie Suk Award for the best poetry book from the American literary press * 2019 Finalist, The Rilke Prize for the best book by a mid-career American poet * Best American Poetry 2021 * 2024 Pushcart Prize * 2024 Rilke Prize for American Poetry for The Fears (Copper Canyon Press, 2023)

References

External links

Kevin Prufer's personal website

''Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prufer, Kevin 1969 births University of Houston faculty American male poets Living people Writers from Cleveland American print editors Wesleyan University alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Poets from Ohio Poets from Missouri National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Western Reserve Academy alumni