Although Maurice Kenny is perhaps less familiar to casual readers than such relative contemporaries as M. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, or Gerald Vizenor, his contributions to American – particularly Native American – literature as a poet, essayist, writer of short-stories, critic, teacher, and editor/publisher are of comparable significance. During a career that spanned six decades, he published more than thirty books, was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and received the American Book Award in 1984 for
The Mama Poems.
Maurice Frank Kenny was born on August 16, 1929 in the small town of Cape Vincent in the Thousand Islands region of upstate New York. Preceded by his sisters Agnes and Mary, he was the last of three children born to Andrew and Doris Kenny, each of
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Citation: Maus, Derek C.. "Maurice Kenny". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 November 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13735, accessed 23 April 2024.]
