Kevin Killian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kevin Killian
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| Born | December 24, 1952 Smithtown, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 15, 2019 (aged 66) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
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| Alma mater | Fordham University, Stonybrook University |
| Genre | LGBT literature |
| Spouse | Dodie Bellamy |
Kevin Killian (born December 24, 1952 – died June 15, 2019) was an American writer. He was known as a poet, author, editor, and playwright. He wrote many books and plays.
One of his big achievements was co-editing My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer with Peter Gizzi. This book won the American Book Award for poetry in 2009. Kevin Killian also helped start the Poets Theater in San Francisco. This group focused on poetry, stage plays, and performances. He also helped create the New Narrative movement in San Francisco, which was a new way of telling stories.
Contents
Life and Career
Kevin Killian was born on December 24, 1952, in Smithtown, New York. He grew up in the Roman Catholic faith and went to a Catholic school run by Franciscan friars. He even wrote about these experiences later in his life. He was also the New York City spelling bee champion! He studied at Fordham University and then went to graduate school at Stony Brook University in the 1970s.
In 1980, Killian moved to San Francisco. A year later, in 1981, he met another writer named Dodie Bellamy. They got married and were together for 34 years.
Kevin Killian admired the work of JT LeRoy, who was actually a pen name for author Laura Albert. In 2000, Killian held public readings of LeRoy's writings.
When he was a new novelist, Killian tied for first place in a fun "bad-writing" contest in San Francisco in 1988. His wife, Dodie Bellamy, even included him as a character in her vampire novel The Letters of Mina Harker. His poems have appeared in important collections like The Best American Poetry 1988. He also wrote a book of poetry inspired by the work of horror film director Dario Argento. Killian also helped author Alvin Orloff improve parts of his novel Gutterboys.
Famous author Edmund White once said that Killian's writing had a special "casualness" that was unique to writers from the West Coast. The Village Voice newspaper called My Vocabulary Did This to Me, which he co-edited, "impeccably edited," meaning it was done perfectly. The New York Times also praised this work highly.
One of his story collections had a story called "Young Hank Williams," which he wrote with Canadian writer Derek McCormack. This collection was inspired by Kylie Minogue's music album. Later, a piano piece by Conrad Tao was inspired by Killian's collection.
Killian was also the founder and a former director of Small Press Traffic, an organization that supports small publishers. He also edited a poetry magazine called Mirage.
Kevin Killian passed away from cancer on June 15, 2019.
Poets Theater and Remembering His Work
Kevin Killian became interested in theater in the early 1980s after seeing plays by Carla Harryman. He later acted in one of her plays. He then helped start the Poets Theater in San Francisco. He acted in and wrote many plays for this group. By 2001, he had written 31 plays! In 2005, he co-wrote a performance art piece called The Red and the Green. In 2009, Killian and David Brazil edited a collection of Poets Theater plays called The Kenning Anthology of Poets Theatre: 1945–1985.
Killian also worked hard to bring attention to important artists and writers from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He organized poetry readings for many influential poets and writers. He also took part in panels, art shows, and events that looked back at the work of these artists. For example, in 2008, he was a main speaker at a conference about "Poetry of the 1970s" at the University of Maine. He also helped organize a tribute to the Kiki Gallery, an important art gallery in San Francisco in the 1980s that showed the work of many artists.
Published Works
Biographies
- Poet Be Like God (co-written with Lewis Ellingham; Wesleyan University Press, 1998) ISBN: 9780819553089
Edited Works
- The Wild Creatures by Sam D'Allesandro (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2005) ISBN: 9780976341116
- My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (co-edited with Peter Gizzi; Wesleyan University Press, 2008) ISBN: 9780819570901
- The Kenning Anthology of Poets Theater: 1945-1985 (co-edited with David Brazil; Kenning Editions, 2010) ISBN: 9780976736455
- Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative Writing 1977-1997 (co-edited with Dodie Bellamy; Nightboat Books, 2017) ISBN: 9781937658656
Plays
