Richard Siken

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Richard Siken
Siken in 2001
Siken in 2001
Born (1967-02-15) February 15, 1967 (age 57)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationPoet
Alma materUniversity of Arizona (BA. MFA)

Richard Siken (born February 15, 1967) is an American poet, painter, and filmmaker. He is the author of the collection Crush (Yale University Press, 2005), which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition in 2004.[1] His second book of poems, War of the Foxes, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2015.

Early life and education[edit]

Siken was born in New York City.[2] He studied at and received a B.A. in psychology and later a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the University of Arizona.[3] He is his mother's only child, with a half-brother on his father's side 16 years older, who never lived with him. He has a stepsister and two stepbrothers, who are all over 10 years older than him and have never lived with him.[4]

Career[edit]

In 2001, Siken co-founded Spork Press, where he continues to work as an editor.

Siken received a Literature Fellowship in Poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts, and his book Crush was awarded the Lambda Literary Award for "Gay Men's Poetry" in 2005,[5] and the Thom Gunn Award from Publishing Triangle. The 1990 death of his boyfriend influenced his writing of the book.[6][7]

Siken's book War of the Foxes became a recipient of two residencies with the Lannan Residency Program, and a Lannan Literary Selection.[8]

Siken currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. On March 19, 2019, Siken reported on his Facebook that he had recently suffered a stroke. On December 4, 2020, he published his first post-stroke poem, "Real Estate" on poets.org[9] after announcing it on his Facebook the day prior.[10]

On July 9, 2023, he announced his new book I Do Know Some Things comes out in Fall 2024. Siken described the new publication on Twitter as "77 prose poems about what I can remember about my life. It is autobiographical. A backstage pass."[11]

Awards[edit]

Crush won the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, selected by Louise Glück. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Thom Gunn Award.

Siken is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, two Arizona Commission on the Arts grants, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Crush (Yale University Press, 2005) ISBN 9780300107210, OCLC 637026953
  • War of the Foxes (Copper Canyon Press, 2015) ISBN 9781556594779, OCLC 990282587

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Richard Siken". Poetry Foundation. 17 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Richard Siken - Western Illinois University". www.wiu.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  3. ^ "Nerve-Wracked Love by Nell Casey". Poetry Foundation. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  4. ^ Siken, Richard (October 5, 2023). "I am my mother's only child. I have a half-brother on my dad's side who is 16 years older. We never lived together. An I have a stepsister and two step brothers, all of whom are over ten years older than me and didn't live in the same house. Which makes me the youngest of five". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  5. ^ "Previous Lammy Award Winners". Lambda Literary Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  6. ^ Schuman, Joan (2006-04-13). "Poetry Personas: Three well-known writers reflect on new, contemporary work". Tucson Weekly.
  7. ^ Siken, Richard. "Cover Story". Pithead Chapel.
  8. ^ Robinson, Shane. "Lannan Literary Program - Lannan Foundation". www.lannan.org. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  9. ^ Siken, Richard. "Real Estate". poets.org. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  10. ^ Siken, Richard. "Facebook". Facebook.
  11. ^ Siken, Richard [@richardsiken] (July 9, 2023). "My new book _I Do Know Some Things_ comes out in Fall 2024. It is 77 prose poems about what I can remember about my life. It is autobiographical. A backstage pass" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "National Book Critics Circle: awards". bookcritics.org. Archived from the original on 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  13. ^ Cerna, Antonio Gonzalez (2005-04-09). "18th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  14. ^ "Publishing Triangle". www.publishingtriangle.org. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  15. ^ Diaz, Alex. "Richard Siken - Lannan Foundation". www.lannan.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  16. ^ Diaz, Alex. "Richard Siken - Lannan Foundation". www.lannan.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-18.

External links[edit]

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