Jake Adam York facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jake Adam York
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York reading one of his poems in March 2007
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| Born | August 10, 1972 West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 2012 (aged 40) Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet, professor, editor |
| Alma mater | BA, Auburn University, MFA, Ph.D. Cornell University |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable awards | Elixir Prize in Poetry 2005 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards 2007 Colorado Book Award 2008 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship 2012 Witter Bynner Fellowship 2014 |
| Spouse | Sarah Skeen |
Jake Adam York (born August 10, 1972 – died December 16, 2012) was an American poet. He wrote many books of poetry that won important awards. His poems often focused on remembering important events and people. After he passed away, another book of his poems was released. He was also honored with a special award called the Witter Bynner Fellowship.
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Early Life and Education
Jake Adam York was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1972. His father worked with steel, and his mother was a history teacher. Soon after he was born, his family moved back to Alabama. This was a special place for his family, as they had lived there for many generations.
Jake grew up in Gadsden, Alabama, with his brother Joe. They lived in a house in the countryside. Jake really enjoyed rap music. He covered his bedroom walls with posters of his favorite rappers, like LL Cool J and Run DMC.
He finished high school in Gadsden in 1990. Then, he went to Auburn University and earned a degree in English. Later, he continued his studies at Cornell University. There, he earned two more advanced degrees in writing and English literature.
Career as a Professor and Editor
Jake Adam York worked as a professor at the University of Colorado Denver. He also helped start and edit Copper Nickel, a well-known student writing magazine.
He was also a founding editor for storySouth and helped edit Shenandoah magazine. He even started an online magazine called Thicket, which focused on literature from Alabama.
In 2005, a writer named Brad Vice was accused of plagiarism. This means he was thought to have copied parts of a story. Jake Adam York spoke up to defend Brad Vice. York explained that Vice had actually shown the original text next to his own story in Thicket magazine. This showed that Vice was using the older text as inspiration, not trying to steal it. York said that Vice was using something called allusion, which is when a writer hints at another work. He believed Vice did not break any copyright laws.
Because of this, Brad Vice's book was published again two years later. Jake Adam York even wrote one of the introductions for this new edition.
His Poetry
Jake Adam York wrote a special kind of poetry. It is often called "poetry of witness." This means his poems often remembered and honored people who were important in the Civil Rights Movement. His poems appeared in many famous magazines and journals, like The New York Times Magazine and The Southern Review.
His first book of poems was called Murder Ballads. It won the Elixir Prize in Poetry in 2005. People who read his work said his poems were very well-made and powerful.
His second book, A Murmuration of Starlings, won the Colorado Book Award in Poetry in 2008. His third book, Persons Unknown, came out in 2010. Both of these books told stories and honored the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.
In 2009, Jake was a special visiting poet at the University of Mississippi. He also received the Third Coast Poetry Prize in 2010. He had also been given a special grant called the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.
His fourth book, Abide, was finished just before he passed away in 2012. It was published in 2014. Abide was chosen as a finalist for a very important award, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. In 2014, he also received the Witter Bynner Fellowship after his death. This award is given by the U.S. Poet Laureate.
To honor Jake Adam York's life and poetry, two groups, Copper Nickel and Milkweed Editions, created the Jake Adam York Prize. This award helps new poets get their first or second books published.
Death
Jake Adam York passed away on December 16, 2012, due to a stroke.
Awards and Honors
- 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award (Poetry) finalist for Abide
- 2014 Witter Bynner Fellowship
- 2012 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship
- 2008 Colorado Book Award in Poetry
Selected Publications
- Abide (Southern Illinois Press, 2014)
- Persons Unknown (Southern Illinois Press, 2010)
- A Murmuration of Starlings (Southern Illinois University Press, 2008)
- Murder Ballads (Elixir Press, 2005)
- The Architecture of Address: The Monument and Public Speech in American Poetry (Routledge, 2005)
