Douglas Kearney

Douglas Kearney (born 1974) is an American poet, performer, and librettist. Kearney grew up in Altadena, California. His work has appeared in journals and magazines including Poetry, Boston Review, and The Brooklyn Rail. His collection Sho won the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry. His collection I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always was a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In 2012, Anne LeBaron's opera Crescent City, with a libretto by Kearney, premiered to critical praise. He is a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Education Kearney received a B.A. from Howard University and an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts. Kearney wrote the libretto for George Lewis's opera The Comet, which was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music. +Selected awards and honors Year Title Award Result 2006 "Swimchant for Nigger Mer-folk" (poem) Coat Hanger Award Winner 2008 — Whiting Award Winner

California Book Award for Poetry Silver CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry Winner Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize Winner

— Campbell Opera Librettist Prize Winner Sho National Book Award for Poetry Finalist

Griffin Poetry Prize Winner Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Finalist Poetry Foundation Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism Winner 2026 I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Finalist Scribner Press.