Jim Barnes (writer) facts for kids
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Jim Weaver McKown Barnes is an American writer born on December 22, 1933. He grew up near Summerfield, Oklahoma. Jim Barnes is known for his poetry, prose, and translations.
He studied at Southeastern State University, then earned his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Arkansas. Mr. Barnes taught at Truman State University for many years. He was a Professor of Comparative Literature and a Writer-in-Residence there. After retiring, he taught at Brigham Young University. In 2009, he was named Oklahoma Poet Laureate. Jim Barnes shares that he is part Choctaw and part Welsh.
Jim Barnes also helped start the Chariton Review Press. He was the editor of The Chariton Review for over 30 years. He has published more than 500 poems in many different journals. He has also translated many works from other languages. His writings are often included in collections of poems and stories.
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Awards and Honors
Jim Barnes has received many awards for his writing and translations. These awards recognize his talent and hard work.
Major Writing Awards
- In 1978, he received a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. This helped him focus on his writing.
- He won the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Award in 1989.
- In 1993, his book The Sawdust War won the Oklahoma Book Award.
- His book On Native Ground: Memoirs and Impressions was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in 1998.
- In 2000, he received an American Book Award for On Native Ground.
- In 2007, his poem about Weldon Kees won the Tim McGinnis Prize.
Translation and Residency Awards
- In 1980, he received the Columbia University Translation Award. This was for his translation of Dagmar Nick's book Summons and Signs.
- He was awarded a Bellagio Residency Fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1990 and again in 2003. These fellowships allowed him to live and work in a special place while translating poetry.
- In 1993–94, he received a Senior Fulbright Fellowship to Switzerland. This allowed him to teach and study abroad.
- He was a Munich Translator-in-Residence in Germany in 1995.
- He held Carmargo Foundation Fellowships in France in 1996 and 2001.
- He received Academie Schloß Solitude Fellowships in Germany in 1998 and 2000.
Special Recognitions
- Jim Barnes was the Featured Poet at the Paris Writers Workshop.
- He also represented the U.S. at the Prague Writer's Festival in 1996.
Books by Jim Barnes
Jim Barnes has written many books, including collections of poetry and prose.
Poetry Collections
- Sundown Explains Nothing: New and Selected Poems, 2019
- Visiting Picasso, 2007
- On a Wing of the Sun: Three Volumes of Poetry, 2001
- Paris: Poems, 1997
- The Sawdust War: Poems, 1992
- The La Plata Cantata: Poems, 1989
- A Season of Loss, 1985
- American Book of the Dead, 1982
- The Fish on Poteau Mountain, 1980
- This Crazy Land, 1980
- Five Missouri Poets, (editor), 1979
Prose Works
- On Native Ground: Memoirs and Impressions, a book of his memories and thoughts.
- "Scars", a short story published in New Letters in 2014.
- "Lope Falls", a short story published in Concho River Review in 2021.
Critical Studies
- The Salt Companion to Jim Barnes, edited by A. Robert Lee, 2009. This book studies Jim Barnes's work.
See also
- Poets Laureate of Oklahoma
