David Kirby

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor
WMS 420
Creative writing, poetry, 19th- and 20th-century U.S. literature, non-fiction

DAVID KIRBY, is the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of English at Florida State University. He has received many honors for his work, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and his work appears frequently in the Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize volumes. Kirby is the author of numerous books, including The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems, which was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award in poetry. His Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll was named one of Booklist's Top 10 Black History Non-Fiction Books of 2010, and the Times Literary Supplement called it "a hymn of praise to the emancipatory power of nonsense." There's more on www.davidkirby.com.

BOOKS

  • Help Me, Information (Louisiana State University Press, 2021).
  • The Knowledge: Where Poems Come From and How to Write Them (Flip Learning, 2021).
  • More Than This (Louisiana State University Press, 2019).
  • Get Up, Please, (Louisiana State University Press, 2016).
  • A Wilderness of Monkeys, (Hanging Loose Press, 2014).
  • The Biscuit Joint, (Louisiana State University Press, 2013).
  • Talking about Movies with Jesus, (Louisiana State University Press, 2011).
  • Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll, (Continuum, 2009).
  • The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems, (Louisiana State University Press, 2007).
  • The Ha-Ha, poetry, (Louisiana State University Press, 2003).
  • What is a Book? (University of Georgia Press, 2002).
  • The Traveling Library (Orchises, 2001).
  • The House of Blue Light, poetry, (Louisiana State University Press, 2000).
  • My Twentieth Century, poetry, (Orchises, 1999).
  • Big Leg Music, poetry, (Orchises, 1995).
  • Herman Melville, Crossroad/Continuum, 1993.
  • Mark Strand and the Poet's Place in Contemporary Culture, U of Missouri Press, 1990.
  • Saving the Young Men of Vienna (poetry), U of Wisconsin Press, 1987.
  • Writing Poetry, The Writer, Inc., 1989.

HONORS AND AWARDS

  • FSU Distinguished Teacher Award, 2008.
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 2003.
  • Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professorship, 2003.
  • Grants from Florida Arts Council, 2002, 1996, 1989, 1983.
  • Pushcart Prize XXV, 2001.
  • Best American Poetry 2001.
  • Best American Poetry 2000.
  • Teaching Incentive Program Awards, 1999, 1994.
  • University Teaching Awards, 2017, 2012, 1997, 1992.
  • College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award, 1990.
  • W. Guy McKenzie Professorship, 1989.
  • Brittingham Prize in Poetry, 1987.
  • Grant from The National Endowment for the Arts, 1985.