Richard Siken (born February 15, 1967) is a North-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.

Richard Siken
Born	(1967-02-15) February 15, 1967 (age 55) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Poet
Alma mater	University of Arizona (BA. MFA)

Early life and education

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]

Career

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,[4] and the Thom Gunn Award from Publishing Triangle. The 1991 death of his boyfriend influenced his writing of the book.[5]

Siken's book War of the Foxes became a recipient of two residencies with the Lannan Residency Program, and a Lannan Literary Selection.[6]

Siken currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. On March 19, 2019, Siken reported on his Facebook that he had recently suffered a stroke. On December 4th, 2020, he published his first post-stroke poem, "Real Estate" on poets.org[7] after announcing it on his Facebook the day prior.[8]

Awards

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.

• Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition, 2004, for Crush[1]
• National Book Critics Circle Award, 2005, finalist [9]
• Lambda Literary Award, 2006 [10]
• Thom Gunn Award, 2006 [11]
• Lannan Residency Program, Fall 2007[12]
• Lannan Residency Program, Spring 2014[13]
• Pushcart Prize
• Two Arizona Commission on the Arts grants
• National Endowment for the Arts fellowship

Bibliography

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

References

External links

• Official Website
• Profile of Richard Siken from Poetry magazine