The Literary Magazine of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers
Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa’s books of poetry include Taboo, Dien Cai Dau, Neon Vernacular, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize, Thieves of Paradise, Pleasure Dome, Talking Dirty to the Gods, Warhorses, The Chameleon Couch, Testimony, The Emperor of Water Clocks, and most recently Everyday Mojo Songs of Earth. His honors include the William Faulkner Prize (Université Rennes, France), the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and the 2011 Wallace Stevens Award. His plays, performance art and libretti have been performed internationally and include Saturnalia, Testimony, Gilgamesh, and Wakonka’s Dream. Komunyakaa served as New York State Poet 2016-2018; and he retired December 2020 as Senior Poet and Global Professor at New York University. (Photo credit: Arthur Elgort.)