FSU poet honored with 2024 Louisiana Writer Award
A faculty member from 糖心vlog鈥檚 has been selected to receive the prestigious Louisiana Writer Award, presented by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana.
Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor David Kirby is the 25th recipient of the award, which recognizes contemporary Louisiana authors who have made outstanding contributions to that state鈥檚 literary and intellectual life through their body of work. Past awardees include writers Ernest J. Gaines, John Kennedy Toole, Elmore Leonard and Yusef Komunyakaa.
The award holds special significance for Kirby, a poet and author who was born and raised in Louisiana, on a small farm outside of Baton Rouge.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of joy that鈥檚 almost unimaginable in receiving this award because that鈥檚 where I grew up,鈥 Kirby said. 鈥淭o be recognized by the place you grew up, that鈥檚 elemental, that鈥檚 foundational. It gets back to mythology and legend 鈥 I鈥檓 being honored by a state that I was born into, I didn鈥檛 yet know who I was or have anything to say. I grew up all around it and thought that was the world until I found out that there were actually other states, other people.鈥
The Louisiana Writer Award is the latest in a lengthy list of honors Kirby has achieved during his more than five decades at FSU. Some of his most notable achievements include a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a W. Guy McKenzie Tenured Professorship, a College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award, four University Teaching Awards, two Teaching Incentive Program Awards, four Pushcart Prizes, a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Fellowship, an FSU Distinguished Teacher Award and the Florida Humanities Council鈥檚 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing.
Kirby, the author of nearly 40 books to date, is also a National Book Award finalist. His latest publications include a collection of poetry titled 鈥淭he Winter Dance Party: Poems 1983-2023,鈥 and a textbook titled 鈥淭he Knowledge: Where Poems Come from and How to Write Them,鈥 which took Kirby just six weeks to complete.
鈥淚 thought about all of the syllabi, I had all of the exercises, all the prompts, all the speeches I鈥檇 given, and I just cracked my knuckles,鈥 Kirby said. 鈥淚t was the easiest thing I did. So, these two books were kind of my whole life in 600 pages.鈥
In 2020, the David Kirby Fellowship within Creative Writing was organized to honor Kirby鈥檚 50 years of teaching at Florida State. The fellowship was endowed and today supports the general needs and priorities of the university鈥檚 creative writing program, including providing stipend supplements and funding graduate student travel to conferences and invited lectures.
鈥淭his Louisiana Writer Award is one in a long line of accolades and, as a Louisiana native, is surely of special importance to David,鈥 said Sam Huckaba, dean of the FSU College of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淚t is a pleasure to congratulate him. The Louisiana Writer Award is meaningful, prestigious and another reflection of the high-quality scholarship flowing from the college and the Department of English.鈥
Kirby will accept the award Saturday, Nov. 2, at the 2024 Louisiana Book Festival in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The festival marks its 20th anniversary this year, with more than 200 authors and presenters taking part. The official artwork for this year鈥檚 festival, 鈥淐ome to Find Out鈥 by Louisiana artist Kelly A. Mueller, also features an ode to Kirby鈥檚 body of work.
鈥淲hen we first began discussion about the design for this year鈥檚 Louisiana Book Festival, conversations quickly centered on the fact that I regularly include projected text in my work,鈥 Mueller said. 鈥淗ere, we saw it as an opportunity to celebrate this year鈥檚 recipient of the 25th Louisiana Writer Award, David Kirby. In the image, a writer sits quietly working at a window at dusk, while the surrounding cypress swamp comes to life.鈥
Excerpts from some of Kirby鈥檚 poems with a Louisiana connection can also be seen within Mueller鈥檚 artwork, including 鈥淐ome to Find Out,鈥 along with numbers commemorating the 20th book festival, the 25th Louisiana Writer Award, and the 40 years of Kirby鈥檚 poems featured in 鈥淭he Winter Dance Party.鈥
Kirby will also be honored at the Senate Chamber of the Louisiana Capitol by Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser during his visit.
鈥淒avid Kirby has never forgotten where he came from, which is obvious in his work, with Louisiana often his inspiration,鈥 Nungesser said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the type of author the Louisiana Writer Award was established to recognize 鈥 not only for his poetry, but David also moves effortlessly among genres.鈥
Although Kirby has returned to Louisiana many times since his childhood, each return, he said, is uniquely inspiring.
鈥淢y parents are no longer living and the farm I grew up on has drastically changed,鈥 Kirby said. 鈥淪o, in many ways, it鈥檚 a world I don鈥檛 recognize. But I鈥檒l walk down the street and hear someone speak in the kind of dialect heard only in that part of the world, or I鈥檒l run into an old classmate, and just like a special effect in a movie, I kind of bounce back through time. That鈥檚 where poetry comes from 鈥 that conversation between here and now, between the present and the past.鈥
To learn more about Kirby鈥檚 work and the FSU Department of English, visit .