Jesse Ball
Encyclopedia
Jesse Ball is an American poet
and novelist. He has published novels, volumes of poetry, short prose
, and drawings.
, where he studied literature
, and poetry
writing under both Eamon Grennan
and Paul Kane. He decided in part to attend Vassar
after attending a lecture at Irish House in NYC that
Grennan had given on Kavanaugh. At Vassar, he took many courses in religion, and participated in a program visiting Greenhaven Prison. At this time he also won a travel fellowship to do photography
in India
.
Following Vassar, Ball attended Columbia University
, where he earned an MFA and met the eminent poet Richard Howard
. Howard was to help the then 24-year-old poet publish his first volume, March Book
, with Grove Press
. At Columbia he worked with Lucie Brock-Broido
, Liam Rector
, Glyn Maxwell
, Nicholas Christopher, Edward Hirsch
, and Timothy Donnelly.
, Circumference, Oberon, Agenda
(UK), The Paris Review, Guernica Magazine
, The Boston Review
, Denver Quarterly
, Fence, and Conduit. In 2006, his poem "Speech in a Chamber" was chosen for the anthology The Best American Poetry 2006
.
The 2004 volume March Book was hailed by Boston Review
critic Desales Harrison as a splendid debut. "Ball displays an otherworldly virtuosity in rendering the uncanny."
That volume was followed by 2006's Vera & Linus, a book of short prose published in Iceland, but available both in Iceland and the US. The book was written in collaboration with his wife, the Icelandic poet, Thordis Bjornsdottir.
The two also collaborated on 2006's Og svo kom nóttin (And then comes night). Ball filled the book with drawings, Bjornsdottir with verse.
2007 saw the arrival of Samedi the Deafness, which was published by the imprint Vintage
. The book was written while on the Hawthornden fellowship in Scotland
. Samedi the Deafness is to be translated into Italian and published in Italy
by Feltrinelli.
In Summer 2008, Ball's collection of short stories, Parables & Lies, was the first volume released by The Cupboard Pamphlet.
February 2009 saw the arrival of The Way Through Doors, which was published by the imprint Vintage
.
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and novelist. He has published novels, volumes of poetry, short prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
, and drawings.
Education and Early Interests
After attending public school, Jesse Ball attended Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, where he studied literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
writing under both Eamon Grennan
Eamon Grennan
Eamon Grennan is an Irish poet born in Dublin. He has lived in the United States, except for brief periods, since 1964. He was the Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. Professor of English at Vassar College until his retirement in 2004....
and Paul Kane. He decided in part to attend Vassar
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
after attending a lecture at Irish House in NYC that
Grennan had given on Kavanaugh. At Vassar, he took many courses in religion, and participated in a program visiting Greenhaven Prison. At this time he also won a travel fellowship to do photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Following Vassar, Ball attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he earned an MFA and met the eminent poet Richard Howard
Richard Howard
Richard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches...
. Howard was to help the then 24-year-old poet publish his first volume, March Book
March Book
American poet Jesse Ball's first book was 105 pages long and called the March Book. It was viewed well critically and it helped to build the foundation for Ball's subsequent reputation as a poet...
, with Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
. At Columbia he worked with Lucie Brock-Broido
Lucie Brock-Broido
Lucie Brock-Broido is the author of three collections of poetry. She has received many honors, including the Witter-Bynner prize of Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, the Harvard-Danforth Award for Distinction in Teaching, the Jerome J...
, Liam Rector
Liam Rector
Liam Rector was an American poet, essayist and educator. He had administered literary programs at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs , the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, and the Folger Shakespeare Library...
, Glyn Maxwell
Glyn Maxwell
Glyn Maxwell is a British poet.-Early life:Though his parents are Welsh, Maxwell was born and raised in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. He studied English at Worcester College, Oxford. He began an MLitt there, but in 1987 moved to America to study poetry and drama with Derek Walcott at...
, Nicholas Christopher, Edward Hirsch
Edward Hirsch
Edward Hirsch is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published eight books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems , which brings together thirty-five years of work. He is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial...
, and Timothy Donnelly.
Career
Ball's fiction and poetry have appeared in many national journals, among them The New RepublicThe New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Circumference, Oberon, Agenda
Agenda (poetry journal)
Agenda is a literary journal published in London and founded by William Cookson. Agenda Editions is an imprint of the journal operating as a small press.-History and editorial orientation:...
(UK), The Paris Review, Guernica Magazine
Guernica Magazine
Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics is a biweekly online site that publishes art and photography, fiction, and poetry, from around the world, along with nonfiction such as letters from abroad, investigative pieces and opinion pieces on international affairs and U.S. domestic policy...
, The Boston Review
Boston Review
Boston Review is a bimonthly American political and literary magazine. The magazine covers, specifically, political debates, literature, and poetry...
, Denver Quarterly
Denver Quarterly
The Denver Quarterly is a literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Williams.-Best American Short Stories:...
, Fence, and Conduit. In 2006, his poem "Speech in a Chamber" was chosen for the anthology The Best American Poetry 2006
The Best American Poetry 2006
The Best American Poetry 2006, a volume in The Best American Poetry series, was edited by David Lehman , and poet Billy Collins, guest editor....
.
The 2004 volume March Book was hailed by Boston Review
Boston Review
Boston Review is a bimonthly American political and literary magazine. The magazine covers, specifically, political debates, literature, and poetry...
critic Desales Harrison as a splendid debut. "Ball displays an otherworldly virtuosity in rendering the uncanny."
That volume was followed by 2006's Vera & Linus, a book of short prose published in Iceland, but available both in Iceland and the US. The book was written in collaboration with his wife, the Icelandic poet, Thordis Bjornsdottir.
The two also collaborated on 2006's Og svo kom nóttin (And then comes night). Ball filled the book with drawings, Bjornsdottir with verse.
2007 saw the arrival of Samedi the Deafness, which was published by the imprint Vintage
Vintage (publisher)
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
. The book was written while on the Hawthornden fellowship in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Samedi the Deafness is to be translated into Italian and published in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
by Feltrinelli.
In Summer 2008, Ball's collection of short stories, Parables & Lies, was the first volume released by The Cupboard Pamphlet.
February 2009 saw the arrival of The Way Through Doors, which was published by the imprint Vintage
Vintage (publisher)
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
.
Publications
2011- Books
- The Curfew (New York, NY: Vintage, 2011)
2009
- Books
- The Way Through Doors (New York, NY: Vintage, 2009)
- Novellas
- Guernica MagazineGuernica MagazineGuernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics is a biweekly online site that publishes art and photography, fiction, and poetry, from around the world, along with nonfiction such as letters from abroad, investigative pieces and opinion pieces on international affairs and U.S. domestic policy...
, Pieter Emily (serialized in three parts)
- Guernica Magazine
2008
- Books
- Parables & Lies (Lincoln, NE: The Cupboard Pamphlet, 2007)
2007
- Books
- Samedi the Deafness (New York, NY: Vintage, 2007)
- Anthologies
- Poetry Daily Anthology "I Followed a Ribbon"
- Stories
- Denver QuarterlyDenver QuarterlyThe Denver Quarterly is a literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Williams.-Best American Short Stories:...
, "A Project"
- Denver Quarterly
- Poems
- Conduit, no. 17, "Autoptic 7" "Auturgy Refrain"
2006
- Books
- Vera & Linus. With Thórdís Björnsdóttir. (Reykjavík: Nyhil, 2006)
- Og svo kom nóttin, Drawings. With Thórdís Björnsdóttir. (Reykjavík: Nyhil, 2006)
- Anthologies
- Best American Poetry 2006 (Scribner 2006): "Speech in a Chamber"
- Stories
- Purple Fiction. Spring 2006: "Samedi the Deafness Serialized Aserialized" (excerpt)
- Conduit. no. 17, 2006: "Method for Waylayers Devised By L. For Practical Use"
- Reykjavik Grapevine. Sept. 2006: 2.19.1 from Vera & Linus.
- Poems
- Denver QuarterlyDenver QuarterlyThe Denver Quarterly is a literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Williams.-Best American Short Stories:...
. 2006: "Missive in an Icelandic Room, 3"
- Denver Quarterly
2005
- Anthologies
- Af Ljodum, "Inside the Stove" (Nyhil 2005)
- The Light of City and Sea, "Cares" "Cedar Hill" (Street Press 2005)
- Poems
- Denver QuarterlyDenver QuarterlyThe Denver Quarterly is a literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Williams.-Best American Short Stories:...
. 2005: "Asking Advice of the Scissors in its Small Drawer" "Balloon Diary, Week of the Pastoral Revolt" "The Distressing Effect of Rumors" - Paris Review. Issue 174, Summer 2005: "Speech in a Chamber" "Speech by a Window" "Autoptic 4" I followed A Ribbon" "Autoptic 8" "Parades"
- Oberon. Vol. 3, 2005: "That Century" "A Calico Ascription" "Report from Our Lands" "A Turn"
- Conduit. no. 16, 2005: "Morceau" "And if They Should Tell You"
- Fence. 2005: "Missive in an Icelandic Room, 2"
- Denver Quarterly
2004
- Books
- March Book. Verse. (New York, NY: Grove Press, 2004)
- Poems
- Boston Review. 2004: "A Set Piece"
2003
- Poems
- New Republic. 21, 28 April 2003: "After a Death"
- Agenda (UK). 2003: "Manuman Notebook: no.1"
2002
- Poems
- Oberon. Louis Simpson, Judge, Issue no. 1. 2002: "Study no. 39"
Awards
- The Plimpton PrizePlimpton PrizeThe Plimpton Prize is an annual award of $10,000 given by The Paris Review to a previously unpublished or emerging author who has written a work of fiction that was recently published in its publication....
for the story The Early Deaths of Lubeck, Brennan, Harp, and CarrThe Early Deaths of Lubeck, Brennan, Harp, and Carr"The Early Deaths of Lubeck, Brennan, Harp, and Carr" is a short story written by American poet and novelist Jesse Ball. The story was originally published in The Paris Review and won the Plimpton Prize for 2008.-External links:...
: Paris Review, 2008
External links
- jesseball.com (Ball´s website)
- "Pieter Emily", Jesse Ball's novella, serialized in Guernica MagazineGuernica MagazineGuernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics is a biweekly online site that publishes art and photography, fiction, and poetry, from around the world, along with nonfiction such as letters from abroad, investigative pieces and opinion pieces on international affairs and U.S. domestic policy...
- Nashville Review Interview with Jesse Ball
- Jesse Ball's "THE MERCY OF KINGS"
- "Finding the Comfortable Spots", the Guernica MagazineGuernica MagazineGuernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics is a biweekly online site that publishes art and photography, fiction, and poetry, from around the world, along with nonfiction such as letters from abroad, investigative pieces and opinion pieces on international affairs and U.S. domestic policy...
interview with Jesse Ball by Craig Morgan Teicher - Grapevine (interview)
- Reykjavik Mag profile
- An interview (everydayyeah.com)