HOUSTON – The latest list of MacArthur Fellows was announced Wednesday. Rice University English professor and acclaimed author Kiese Laymon was among the recipients.
A writer from Jackson, Mississippi, Laymon’s work bears “witness to the myriad forms of violence that mark the Black experience in formally inventive fiction and nonfiction,” the McCarthur Foundation wrote.
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“I’m not big into awards and recognition, but this one feels special,” Laymon said in a Rice University press statement. “Revision and Mississippi did this. I’m just thankful. Some really incredible people thought my work was OK. That’s a big deal to me.”
Laymon joined Rice University’s joined School of Humanities as a creative writing and English professor in January.
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His first two books, the novel “Long Division” and the essay collection “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America‚” were originally published in 2013. Later, he acquired the rights to both works and published revised editions in 2020 and 2021. Laymon’s bestselling “Heavy: An American Memoir” was published in 2018. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair and ESPN.com among other publications.
MacArthur Fellows will receive an $800,000 stipend that they can use at their discretion.
The MacArthur Foundation has awarded its fellowships each year since 1981. Fellowship candidates are nominated anonymously by leaders in their field and are chosen by an anonymous selection committee.
“This is a huge win for Kiese, for Rice’s School of Humanities and for the university as a whole,” said Rice University President Reginald DesRoches in a press statement. “Any time one of our professors’ work is recognized by a prestigious organization such as the MacArthur Foundation, it shines a light on the extremely high-caliber faculty at Rice and the impact of their research, scholarship and creative pursuits.”
Laymon is the second Rice faculty member to be named a MacArthur Fellow in the school’s history. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the director of the Rice 360° Institute for Global Health, received the honor in 2016.