Yusef Komunyakaa
(b. 1947)

Yusef Komunyakaa first became interested in poetry when he was in elementary school, and he wrote his first poem at the age of 16. According to Komunyakaa, however, he did not begin to realize his true potential as a poet until he took part in a creative writing workshop ten years later at the University of Colorado. Komunyakaa credits the teacher of that workshop, Dr. Alex Blackburn, with making him believe that he could write poetry.

Komunyakaa earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado in 1975. While pursuing a master 's degree at Colorado State, he published his first collection of poems, Dedications and Other Darkhorses (1977).

Komunyakaa continued to publish poems and to develop his craft in the years that followed. Gradually, he began to be recognized as an outstanding poet. In 1994, Komunyakaa won a Pulitzer Prize for his collection Neon Vernacular. He has since published several more critically acclaimed volumes of poetry, including Thieves of Paradise (1998) and Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems (2001).

Currently, Yusef Komunyakaa is a professor in the Council of Humanities and Creative Writing program at Princeton University.

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z