Jim Barnes

Jim Weaver McKown Barnes, of Choctaw and Welsh ancestry, was born and grew up in Summerfield, Oklahoma. He received his BA from Southeastern State College in Durant, OK (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1964 and his MA (1965) and Ph.D. (1970) from the University of Arkansas. At present, he is Professor of English at Brigham Young University. He taught at Truman State University from 1970 to 2003, where he was Professor of Comparative Literature and Writer-in-Residence. Jim married Cora Barnes McKown, artist and designer, in 2006. After June 15 (2006) they will make their home in Santa Fe.

Jim is the founding editor of the Chariton Review Press and editor of The Chariton Review. He is also a contributing editor to the Pushcart Prize. He has published over 500 poems in more than 100 journals, including The Chicago Review, The American Scholar, Prairie Schooner and Georgia Review. His translations have also been published in journals, such as Sycamore Review and Black Moon.

His community service involves membership in many organizations, including the Associated Writing Programs, the National Association for Ethnic Studies, PEN Center USA West and the Editorial Board of Thomas Jefferson University Press. He has sat on several National Endowment for the Arts committees.

Jim Barnes has given readings of his work at many campuses, such as Simon's Rock College, San Jose State University, the University of South Carolina, Villa Serbelloni (Bellagio, Italy), Brigham Young University, University of Missouri at Columbia, Duke University, University of Arizona, Stephens College, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska, Oklahoma State University, Brigham Young University, University of Oregon, University of California - Berkeley, Riverside, and Santa Cruz, Cal Poly Tech - San Luis Obispo, Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France), Villa Walberta (Munich, Germany), Charles University (Prague), Ostrava University (Czech Republic), Olomouc University (Czech Republic), Viola Theatre (Prague), and so on.

His new book of poetry is Visiting Picasso (University of Illinois Press, 2006).

Writing available online

Fourche Maline Bottoms
Crow White
Anasazi Rocks
Finding Oscar Wilde
Word
On Hearing the News That Hitler Was Dead; also at the World Poetry site:
For Roland, Presumed Taken and
Written During the Funeral of Hirohito
Passerelle Debilly (Anthology of Great Plains Poets) : An article from: The Midwest Quarterly

Awards

Jim received a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1978 and the Columbia University Translation Award for his translation of Dagmar Nick's Zeugnis und Zeichen (Summons and Signs) in 1980. In 1989 he was awarded the St. Louis Poetry Center's Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Award, and in 1990 he was awarded a Bellagio Residency Fellowship for the purpose of beginning his translations of Dagmar Nick's poetry by the Rockefeller Foundation. He held a second Rockefeller Bellagio Residency Fellowship in 2003. In 1992 Jim was a Distinguished Writer-in-Residence for the University of Maryland Far East Division. In 1993 Jim received the Oklahoma Book Award for The Sawdust War, and he was awarded a Senior Fulbright Fellowship to Switzerland in 1993-94. In 1998, On Native Ground : Memoirs and Impressions was named a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in non-fiction and in the poetry category for Paris.

Jim has been the Featured Poet at the Paris Writers Workshop and at the 13^th Franco-Anglais Poetry Translation Festival. In 1995 he was the Munich Translator-in-Residence at Villa Walberta, Germany, and he has held two Carmargo Foundation Fellowships in Cassis, France and the U.S. Representative at the Prague Writer's Festival.. In 1998 and in 2000, Jim was awarded Academie Schloß Solitude Fellowships in Stuttgart, Germany and received an American Book Award for On Native Ground. In 2002, he was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in the Poetry category for On a Wing of the Sun.

A short biography from the Internet Public Library's Native American Author's Project is available.
A brief resumé is available from the Missouri Author's Directory.

Books by Jim Barnes or containing his work

Poetry

Visiting Picasso, University of Illinois Press.
On a Wing of the Sun: Three Volumes of Poetry, University of Illinois Press.: The publishers page on this book
Paris: Poems , (Illinois Poetry Series), University of Illinois Press.: The publishers page on this book
Paris was a finalist in the poetry category for the 1998 Oklahoma Book Award.
The Sawdust War : Poems, University of Illinois Press.
The La Plata Cantata : Poems Purdue University Press.
A Season of Loss, Purdue University Press.
American Book of the Dead, University of Illinois Press.
The Fish on Poteau Mountain, Cedar Creek Press.
This Crazy Land, Inland Boat Series/Poarch Press.
Five Missouri Poets, (as editor), Chariton Review Press.

Translations and Criticism

Fiction of Malcolm Lowry and Thomas Mann: Structural Tradition,: Thomas Jefferson University Press.
Summons and sign : poems, Dagmar Nick (Tr. Jim Barnes): Chariton Review Press.
Numbered Days: Poems, Dagmar Nick (Tr. Jim Barnes): New Odyssey Press.
"The Myth of Sisyphus in Under the Volcano," Prairie Schooner, 42, 341-348. 1968.

Other Prose

On Native Ground : Memoirs and Impressions: American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, Vol 23, University of Oklahoma Press.; The OU Press page for this book

Anthologies

Family, Friends and Strangers, Hugh Abernethy (Editor), Abbeywood Press.
Wings and Waking Dreams, Hugh Abernethy (Editor), Abbeywood Press.
Lost Rivers, Making Waves Press.
Blue Dawn, Red Earth : New Native American Storytellers,: Clifford E. Trafzer (Editor), Anchor Books.
Durable Breath : Contemporary Native American Poetry, John E.Smelcer, D. L. Birchfield: (Editors), Salmon Run Pub.
Inheriting the Land : Contemporary Voices from the Midwest,: Mark Vinz and Thom Tammaro (Editors), University of Minnesota Press.
A Year in Poetry : A Treasury of Classic and Modern Verses for Every Date on the Calendar: Thomas E. Foster, Elizabeth C. Guthrie, Peter Ginna, Richard Wilbur (Editors), Crown Publishers.
Native-American Literature : A Brief Introduction and Anthology: (Harpercollins Literary Mosaic), Watson-Guptill Pubns.
After the Storm: Poems on the Persian Gulf War,: Jay Meek, F.D. Reeve (Editor), Maisonneuve Press.
Dancing on the Rim of the World : An Anthology of Contemporary: Northwest Native American Writing (Sun Tracks, Vol 19), Andrea Lerner (Editor), Univ of Arizona Press.
A New Geography of Poets, Edward Field, Gerald Locklin, Charles Stetler (Editor),: University of Arkansas Press.
The Decade Dance: A Celebration of Poems, Sandhills Press.
Decade: Poetry and Commentaries 1980 - 1990, New Letters.
Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, 1989,: Alan F. Pater (Editor), Monitor Book Co.
Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, 1986-1988,: Alan F. Pater (Editor), Monitor Book Co.
Earth Power Coming : Short Fiction in Native American Literature: Simon J. Ortiz (Editor), Navajo Community College Press.
Point Riders Great Plains Poetry Anthology Arn Henderson and Frank Parman,: Editors, Point Riders Press.
Songs from This Earth on Turtle's Back: An Anthology of Poetry by American Indian Writers: Joseph Bruchac (Editor), Greenfield Review Press
Carriers of the Dream Wheel, Duane Niatum (Editor), HarperCollins.
The Remembered Earth : An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature: Geary Hobson (Editor), University of New Mexico Press.
Editor's Choice II : Fiction, Poetry & Art from the U.S. Small Press: Morty Sklar, Mary Biggs (Editors), Spirit That Moves Us Press.
Harper's Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry,: Duane Niatum (Editor), HarperCollins.
Minority Poets of America: An Anthology of Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American Poetry,: Roth Publishing.
A Nation Within: Contemporary Native American Writing, Outrigger Publishers.
The Clouds Threw This Light: Contemporary Native American Poetry. IAIA Press.
Coyote's Journal, Carroll Arnett (Editor), Wingbow Press.
New Letters Reader I : An Anthology of Contemporary Writing, David Ray (Editor), New Letters.
New Letters Reader II : An Anthology of Contemporary Writing, David Ray (Editor), New Letters.
Voices from the Interior : Poets of Missouri, Robert Stewart (Editor), Bookmark Press.
Missouri Poets: An Anthology, Mid-America Press.
From A to Z : 200 Contemporary American Poets,: David Ray (Editor), Swallow Press, Ohio University Press.
The Aspect Anthology, Zepher Press.
Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry 1981 Edition: Alan F. Pater (Editor), Monitor Book Co.
Pushcart Prize V : 1980-1981, Bill Henderson (Editor),
Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry 1980: Alan F. Pater (Editor), Monitor Book Co.
The Magic of Names: Three Native American Poets, Blue Cloud Quarterly Press.
Once in a Sycamore: A Garland for John Berryman, Rook Press.
Southwest : A Contemporary Anthology, Karl Kopp and Jane Kopp (Editors), Red Earth Press.
I Sing the Song of Myself : An Anthology of Autobiographical Poems,: David Kherdian (Editor), William Morrow & Co Library.
Traveling America With Today's Poets, MacMillan Pub Co.
Heartland II : Poets of the Midwest, Northern Illinois University Press.
A Tumult for John Berryman, Dryad Press.
First Skin Around Me: Contemporary American Tribal Poetry, Territorial Press.

Books Containing Interviews with or Essays on Jim

Contemporary Authors (Autobiography Series , Vol 28), Gale Research.
My Poor Elephant : 27 Male Writers at Work, Eve Shelnutt (Editor), Longstreet Press.
The Writer's Perspective : Voices from American Cultures,: Maria Cecilia Freeman (Compiler), Prentice Hall.
Native American Writers of the United States: Kenneth M. Roemer (Editor), Gale Research.
I Tell You Now : Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers: Brian Swann, Arnold Krupat, Brompton Books Corp.
American Indian Literatures : An Introduction, Bibliographic Review and Selected Bibliography: A. Lavonne Brown Ruoff, Modern Language Association of America.
Handbook of Native American Literature: Andrew Wiget (Editor), Garland Publications.
"Bi-Racial Perspective: A Conversation with Jim Barnes," Steven Hedgpeth: Pembroke Magazine, 29, 216-24. 1997.
From the Heartlands : Photos and Essays from the Midwest: Larry Smith (Editor), Bottom Dog Press.
"A MELUS Interview: Jim Barnes," Gretchen Bataille,: MELUS, 10, (Winter 1983): 57:64.
"An Interview with Jim Barnes,", Heinz Woehlk,: Paintbrush, 13, (Spring-Autumn 1986), 52-61.
"Contemporary Profile: Jim Barnes," Linda Rodriguez,: Potpourri, 5, May 1993, 3.

Textbooks

Approaching Poetry: Perspectives and Responses, Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl: St. Martin's Press.
Question and Form in Literature, Scott Foresman & Co.
Focus on Literature: Forms, Houghton Mifflin.

This is an "official" site in that this page was constructed with the assistance and active collaboration of the poet, Jim Barnes. The website "author" is Karen M. Strom

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