Sjohnna McCray

Sjohnna McCray (born 1972) is an American poet. He is the author of Rapture, winner of the Walt Whitman award of the Academy of American Poets in 2015.

Sjohnna McCray
Born (1972-03-07) March 7, 1972
OccupationPoet, teacher
Alma materOhio University
University of Virginia
Teachers College, Columbia University
Notable worksRapture
Notable awardsWalt Whitman Award (2015)
Website
Sjohnna McCray's website

Biography

Sjohnna McCray was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 7, 1972. He earned a BS from Ohio University in 1995, and later obtained a MFA in Poetry from the University of Virginia.[1]

McCray published his first poetry collection, Rapture (Graywolf Press) in 2016. The collection was chosen by United States Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith, as the winner of the 2015 Walt Whitman Award. Smith writes of the collection: "These poems are so beautifully crafted, so courageous in their truth-telling, and so full of what I like to think of as lyrical wisdom—the visceral revelations that only music, gesture and image, working together, can impart—that not only did they stop me in my tracks as a judge, but they changed me as a person."[2]

McCray was the recipient of Ohio University's Emerson Poetry Prize and was nominated for a Pushcart Poetry Prize.[3][4] He later studied at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he received an MA in English Education.[2]

McCray has taught school in New York City, Chicago and Phoenix. He currently lives in Savannah, Georgia, where he teaches English at Savannah State University.[1][2]

Awards

References

  1. "Sjohnna McCray". Cincinnati Magazine. August 2001. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  2. "Sjohnna McCray". Poets.org. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  3. "Local poet wins major literary award that includes a residency in Italy". Savannah Now. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  4. "Sjohnna McCray b. 1972". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
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