Douglas Kearney

 ( Living People ) 

Douglas Kearney (born 1974) is an American poet, performer, and librettist. Kearney grew up in Altadena, California. His work has appeared in journals and magazines including Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry, Callaloo, The Iowa Review, Boston Review, Hyperallergic, and Brooklyn Rail. Calarts.edu In 2012, his and Anne LeBaron's opera Crescent City premiered and received widespread praise. He is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

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Education Kearney attended Howard University as an undergraduate. He graduated from California Institute of the Arts, with an MFA (2004).

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Awards and honors Kearney has received multiple notable fellowships, including the Cave Canem Fellowship (2000-02), Bread Loaf Writer's Conference Fellowship (2004), Callaloo Creative Writer's Workshop Fellowship (2004-05), and Returning Fellowship at the Idyllwild Summer Arts Poetry Workshop (2007).

In 2007, the Poetry Society of America named Kearney a Notable New American Poet. The following year, he was part of the National Poetry Series. NBC Kearney wrote the libretto for George Lewis's opera The Comet, which was named as one of two finalists for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

+Awards for Kearney's writing !Year !Title !Award !Result !
2006	Swimchant for Nigger Mer-folk	Coat Hanger Award	Winner
2008	Self	Whiting Awards	Winner
2014	Patter	California Book Awards Poetry Finalist	Winner
2017	Buck Studies	California Book Award for Poetry	Silver
		CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry	Winner
		Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize	Winner
2021	-	Campbell Opera Librettist Prize	Winner
	Sho	National Book Award for Poetry	Finalist
2022		Griffin Poetry Prize (International)	Winner	Adina Bresge, "B.C. writer Tolu Oloruntoba wins $65K Griffin Poetry Prize for debut book" . Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, June 15, 2022.
		Hurston/Wright Legacy Award	Nominee
2023	Optic Subwoof	CLMP Firecracker Award for Creative Nonfiction	Winner
		Poetry Foundation Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism	Winner

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Works

• (2026). 9781597090711, Red Hen Press. ISBN 9781597090711
• (2026). 9781934200285, Fence Books. ISBN 9781934200285
• (2026). 9781597095808, Red Hen Press. ISBN 9781597095808
• (2026). 9781934819517, Noemi Press. ISBN 9781934819517
• (2026). 9780990661252, Subito Press. ISBN 9780990661252
• (2026). 9780986437373, Fence Books. ISBN 9780986437373
• (2021). 9781950268153, Wave Books. ISBN 9781950268153
• (2022). 9781950268672, Wave Books. ISBN 9781950268672
• (2025). 9798891060128, Wave Books. . EAN 9798891060128

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Anthologies

• (2026). 9780609808405, Three Rivers Press. ISBN 9780609808405
• (2026). 9780883782385, Third World Press. . ISBN 9780883782385
• Sheree R. Thomas, ed. (2005). Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. Aspect.
• (2026). 9780820329260, University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820329260
• Mark Eleveld, ed. (2007) Spoken Word Revolution Redux. Sourcebooks MediaFusion.
• Sherman Alexie, David Lehman, eds (2015) Best American Poetry 2015 Scribner Press.
• (2026). 9780820353159, University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820353159

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External links

• Douglas Kearney's website
• Profile at The Whiting Foundation
• "Douglas Kearney", Fishouse
• "History, Reconciliation, and Form: A Conversation Between Amaud J. Johnson & Douglas Kearney", Boxcar Poetry Review, 2008
• "Douglas Kearney reads “A Poison Tree” by William Blake", Poets on Poets

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