Nikky Finney

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Nikky Finney
Ernest A. Finney, Jr.
and Frances Davenport Finney

Nikky Finney (born Lynn Carol Finney on August 26, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina) is an American poet. She was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years.[1][2][3] In 2013, she accepted a position at the University of South Carolina as the John H. Bennett, Jr. Chair in Southern Letters and Literature.[4] An alumna of Talladega College, and author of four books of poetry and a short-story cycle, Finney is an advocate for social justice and cultural preservation. Her honors include the 2011 National Book Award for her collection Head Off & Split.[5][6] Finney is a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.[7]

Biography

One of three children, Finney is the only daughter of

Columbia, SC.[9]

Both Finney's parents were raised on the family-owned land: Justice Finney on a farm in Virginia, and Frances Davenport Finney on a farm in

Newberry, SC
. Themes of the African-American relationship to the land surface throughout Finney's work.

Educated first in Catholic grade school, and then in South Carolina public schools during the riotous struggle over

HBCU in Alabama, where she was mentored by poet and essayist Dr Gloria Wade Gayles.[10]

After studying with Dr. Howard Zehr and graduating from Talladega College in 1979, Finney began her artistic career as a photographer. Finney committed to documenting the trajectory of African-American contributions to American creativity and culture. In Alabama, Finney continued to advance as an autodidactic poet and creative artist.

Finney matriculated at

National Black Women's Health Project, Finney traveled to Nairobi, Kenya
, for the End of the Decade of Women Conference in 1985, and covered the historic UN conference for the National Black Women's Health Project.

Career

Finney reading at Annikki Poetry Festival in Tampere, Finland, on June 9, 2012

Finney's targeted result of her independent years was achieved: On Wings Made of Gauze, her first book of poems, was completed in Atlanta. The book was read and ushered to the late Eunice Riedel by Nikki Giovanni. Riedel acquired and edited On Wings Made of Gauze, which was published by William Morrow, in 1985.

After publication of her first book of poems, Finney relocated to the

Bay Area, where she involved herself with progressive causes, and continued independent work as a poet. She was recruited to a position as Visiting Writer in the English department at the University of Kentucky (1989–90), by South Carolina-born novelist and poet Percival Everett. In 1993, Finney was offered a post on the permanent faculty. Her second book of poetry, Rice, was completed in Lexington, Kentucky, and was published in 1995 by SisterVisions, a Canadian press. In 1997, Rice received a PEN American Open Book Award. Rice stands as the book that brought Finney her many grassroots followers. Her story cycle Heartwood, designed for literacy students, was published in 1998, by the University Press of Kentucky
.

Finney took a leave from the University of Kentucky in 1999 to hold the Goode Chair in the

Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence, from 2007 to 2009.[1]

Finney edited and wrote the introduction to The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, which was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2007, under the auspices of Cave Canem, an organization that works to increase opportunities for African-American poets. The Ringing Ear, with entries selected and edited by Finney, showcased the work of one hundred African-American poets who are southern or who wrote on southern subjects.

Finney's fourth book of poems, Head Off & Split, was published by Northwestern University Press in 2011. On October 12, 2011, Head Off & Split was announced as a finalist for the 2011 National Book Awards,[12] with Finney honored as the 2011 winner of the National Book Award for Poetry on November 16, 2011.[5][6][13] Her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, touching on race, reading and writing, was judged by host John Lithgow as "the best acceptance speech for anything that I've ever heard in my life".[14]

Head Off & Split was selected as the 2015–16 First Year Book by the

University of Maryland, College Park.[15] This work provides an opportunity for students and faculty to delve into complex topics using a common text. Finney was also commissioned to write a new poem entitled "The Battle of and for the Black Face Boy" to be presented to the campus community in October 2015.[16] She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[17]

Finney is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, a writing collective based in Lexington, Kentucky. She has served on the faculty and Board of the Cave Canem Foundation, where she shepherds younger poets in the spirit of her mentorship experience.[18]

Awards and honors

Works

  • On Wings Made of Gauze, W. Morrow, 1985,
    ISBN 978-0-688-04796-2
  • Rice, Sister Vision, 1995,
    ISBN 978-0-920813-21-8
  • Heartwood. University Press of Kentucky. 1997.
    ISBN 978-0-8131-0910-7
    .
  • The World is Round, InnerLight Pub., 2003,
    ISBN 978-0-9714890-4-2
  • Head Off & Split: Poems, Northwestern University Press, 2011,
    ISBN 978-0-8101-5216-8
  • Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts, Northwestern University Press, 2020,
    ISBN 978-0-8101-4201-5[20]

As editor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Nance, Kevin, "The Wider Sky: A Profile of Nikky Finney", Poets & Writers, March / April 2011, pp. 42–49.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-33197-8
    . Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  3. ^ "Poet Nikky Finney is appointed Guy Davenport Endowed English Professor at University of Kentucky". Lexington Herald-Leader. Kentucky.com. September 13, 2012.
  4. ^ Eblen, Tom (May 29, 2013). "Poet Nikky Finney offers farewell gifts to Carnegie Center". Lexington Herald-Leader. Kentucky.com.
  5. ^ a b c "National Book Awards – 2011". National Book Foundation. Retrieved April 8, 2012. (With acceptance speech, interview, reading, and other material.)
  6. ^ a b Habash, Gabe (November 16, 2011). "National Book Awards Go to Lai, Finney, Greenblatt, and Ward ", Publishers Weekly.
  7. ^ "The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective".
  8. ^ Guzior, Betsey (November 17, 2011), "S.C. native, Nikky Finney, wins National Book Award for poetry" Archived November 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, The State
  9. ^ Lett, Mark E. (June 5, 2011). "12 Lives: People Changing South Carolina. Ernest Finney: From Waiter to State Supreme Court Chief Justice" Archived August 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, The State.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60473-274-0
    . Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  11. ^ Edwin C. Epps, Literary South Carolina, Hub City Writing Project, 2004.
  12. ^ Staff (October 12, 2011). "National Book Awards Finalists Announced on OPB" Archived November 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  13. ^ Priest, Joy (November 16, 2011). "Professor wins National Book Award for Poetry", The Kentucky Kernel.
  14. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (November 17, 2011), "Nikky Finney wins National Book Award for poetry", Chicago Tribune (Awards video Archived November 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, speech at time code 16:45).
  15. ^ Seabolt, Kristen (June 22, 2015). "UMD Selects Finney's "Head Off & Split" as 2015–2016 First Year Book". UMD Right Now. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  16. ^ "Poetry Reading: At War With Ourselves | The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center". December 9, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  17. OCLC 1066069680
    . Retrieved August 23, 2021 – via WorldCat.
  18. ^ Davis, Merlene (September 6, 2009). "Inauguration reading has raised profile of poet and poetry". The Lexington Herald Leader.
  19. ^ Bolen, Blake, "2013 Inductee to the South Carolina Academy of Authors: Nikky Finney", South Caroline Academy of Author.
  20. ^ Hartman, Liz (April 19, 2019). "Book Deals: Week of April 22, 2019". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 31 July 2019.

External links

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