James Thomas Stevens : Background, Education, Academic and writing career, Awards and nominations Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Thomas Stevens

American poet and academic (born 1966)

James Thomas Stevens (born 1966) is an American poet and academic. He is a member of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation^[1] and currently teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Background

James Thomas Stevens was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and his Mohawk name is Aronhió:ta's. His father was a Welsh-American and his mother is Mohawk.^[2]

Education

In 1993 Stevens earned his MFA in writing from Brown University Graduate Writing Program, where he had a full fellowship.^[2] He earned a Creative Writing AFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, where he received the Gerald Red Elk Scholarship in 1990, allowing him to attend the Naropa Institute Summer Writing Program. Stevens briefly attended the School of Visual Arts and Brooklyn College in New York.^[1]

Academic and writing career

Stevens was an associate professor in the English Department of SUNY Fredonia and the director of American Indian Studies. He has also been an Instructor of Poetry at Brown University and taught at Haskell Indian Nations University.^[1]

He is an author of numerous volumes of poetry. An international poet with professional invitations to France, Turkey, and China, Stevens spoke at the IIPF in the United Nations in 2006. He formerly taught at Haskell Indian Nations University and remains a vibrant member of the Native community as well as a leading young American Poet.

Awards and nominations

1991 Institute of American Indian Arts Creative Writing Award
1993 Kim Ann Arstark Memorial Prize in Poetry
1993 Wittner-Bynner Foundation Poetry Grant
1994 City of Santa Fe Writer's Award
1996 Pushcart Prize Nomination ^[1]
2000 Whiting Award
2003 Nominated for a Before Columbus/American Book Award
2005 Finalist for the National Poetry Series Award

Published books

Tokinish. First Intensity Press. 1994. ISBN 978-1-88063-106-5.
Combing the Snakes from His Hair. Michigan State University Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-87013-590-3.
(dis)Orient. Palm Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-97431-813-4.
Bulle/Chimére. First Intensity Press. 2006. ISBN 978-1-88996-012-8.
Mohawk/Samoa: Transmigrations. Subpress. 2006. ISBN 978-1-93006-830-8. (with Caroline Sinavaiana)
The Mutual Life. Plan B Press. 2006.
A Bridge Dead in the Water. Salt Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84471-270-0.
Of Kingdoms & Kangaroo. First Intensity Press. 2008. ISBN 978-1-88996-019-7.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jame Thomas Stevens. Archived 2018-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Michigan State University Press. (retrieved 17 August 2015)
^ ^a ^b Glancy and Nowak, 361