Derrick Austin
Derrick Austin | |
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_in_the_video_'Derrick_Austin_and_Keith_Wilson_in_Conversation'.png) Austin in 2022 | |
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| derricklynnaustin | |
Derrick Austin is an American poet. He is the author of Trouble the Water (2016), Tenderness (2021) and This Elegance (2026).
Derrick Austin was born in Homestead, Florida.[1] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and creative writing from the University of Tampa, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the University of Michigan. While there, Austin received the university's Hopwood Award in poetry. Austin has also been a Cave Canem fellow and Stegner Fellow, and received the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship, among other honors.[2] Austin is gay.[3]
Select publications
[edit]Trouble the Water (2016)
[edit]Austin's debut poetry collection, Trouble the Water, was published with BOA Editions in 2016.[4] The book explores Blackness, homosexuality, police brutality and other topics. Multiple poems juxtapose Black homosexuality and religious themes. According to American writer and book critic Rigoberto González of the Los Angeles Review of Books, this juxtaposition "asks a number of important questions about representations of beauty in art: whose bodies and what kinds of lives are valued, what languages are used to assert (and even influence) what is held sacrosanct in such hallowed spaces as palaces, churches, and museums".[5]
Trouble the Water was well received by critics, including a starred review from Booklist.[6] Rigoberto González referred to the collection as "a dense book, which could have been curated with more scrutiny in order to produce a leaner text", though noted that "the gravity of its insights and observations remain buoyed by Austin's confidence in dealing with the charged territories of religion and sex".[5] Publishers Weekly similarly discussed how the collection manages a "fraught balancing act of being lighthearted, even convivial, in the face of worry and distress", adding that Austin" also deftly manipulates the tension between beauty and artlessness, sensitivity and violence".[7] They concluded, "In Austin's hands, the exquisite can be ominous while the grotesque can turn charming, and his poems wisely assert that the world is unforgiving and yet full of mercy—that one can question beauty and yet still be beholden to it".[7]
In 2016, American poet Mary Szybist selected Trouble the Water for the A. Poulin Jr. Prize.[1] The following year, it was a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award,[8] Thom Gunn Award,[9] and Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry.[10]
Tenderness (2021)
[edit]Austin's second poetry collection, Tenderness, was published through BOA in 2021,[11] and "examines the fraught nature of intimacy in a nation poisoned by anti-Blackness and homophobia, uplifting sites of resistance and healing, including art, friendship and erotic love".[12] According to the review aggregator Book Marks, it was well received by critics, including two "rave" reviews and two "positive" reviews.[12]
Tenderness won the 2021 Isabella Gardener Award[1] and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry.[13]
This Elegance (2026)
[edit]Austin's third poetry collection, This Elegance, was published by BOA in 2026. Prior to publication, LitHub named it among the year's most anticipated poetry collections.[14]
Books
[edit]- Trouble the Water. Boa Editions. 2016. ISBN 978-1-942683-04-9.
- Tenderness. Boa Editions. 2021. ISBN 978-1-950774-39-5.
- Black Sand. Foundling Press. 2022.
- This Elegance. Boa Editions. 2026. ISBN 978-1-960145-94-9.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Derrick Austin". Academy of American Poets. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "Derrick Austin". The Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on February 14, 2026. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "Queer Poets on the Poems that Changed Their Lives". Academy of American Poets. May 24, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2026. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ Wade, Julie Marie (April 13, 2016). "Trouble the Water by Derrick Austin". The Rumpus. Archived from the original on April 25, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- 1 2 González, Rigoberto (July 2, 2016). "Three Promising New Voices at the Identity Crossroads". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on May 5, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ St. John, Janet (April 1, 2016). "Trouble the Water". Booklist. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
- 1 2 "Trouble the Water by Derrick Austin". Publishers Weekly. February 15, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "Previous Winners & Finalists". Tufts Poetry Awards. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry". The Publishing Triangle. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. March 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ↑ Báez, Diego. "When the Museum Is a Mirror: Tenderness by Derrick Austin". Salamander Magazine. Archived from the original on January 21, 2026. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- 1 2 "All Book Marks reviews for Tenderness by Derrick Austin". Book Marks. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ Gaynor, Jessie (March 16, 2022). "Here are the finalists for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ Frank, Rebecca Morgan (January 2, 2026). "Looking Ahead to the Most Anticipated Poetry of 2026". Literary Hub. Retrieved June 4, 2026.