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Jesse Ball

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Jesse Ball in 2012. Photo by Joh.n.k. francis. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Jesse Ball (born June 7, 1978) is an American poet and novelist. He has published novels, volumes of poetry, short prose, and drawings.

Life[]

Youth and education[]

After attending public school, Ball attended Vassar College, 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. [1]

Following Vassar, Ball attended Columbia University, where he earned an M.F.A., and poet Richard Howard. At Columbia he also worked with Lucie Brock-Broido, Liam Rector, Glyn Maxwell, Nicholas Christopher, Edward Hirsch, and Timothy Donnelly. [2]

Career[]

He is on the faculty of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.[3]

Ball's fiction and poetry have appeared in many national journals, among them The New Republic, 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. [4]

Howard helped the then 24-year-old poet publish his 1st volume, March Book, with Grove Press. 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, published 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. [5]

In Summer 2008, Ball's collection of short stories, Parables & Lies, was the 1st volume released by The Cupboard Pamphlet. February 2009 saw the arrival of The Way Through Doors, published by Vintage.

In June 2011, Ball's 3rd novel, "The Curfew", was published. It has become a staple in many contemporary college literature courses.

March Book (2004) was hailed by Boston Review critic Desales Harrison as a splendid debut. "Ball displays an otherworldly virtuosity in rendering the uncanny." [6]

Recognition[]

  • Ball won the Plimpton Prize for the story The Early Deaths of Lubeck, Brennan, Harp, and Carr: Paris Review, 2008

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • March Book. New York: Grove Press, 2004.

Novels[]

  • Samedi the Deafness: A novel. New York: Vintage, 2007.
  • The Way Through Doors. New York: Vintage, 2009.
  • The Curfew. New York: Vintage, 2011.
  • Silence Once Begun. New York: Pantheon, 2014.
  • A Cure for Suicide. New York: Pantheon, 2015.
  • How to Set a Fire and Why: A novel. New York: Pantheon, 2016.

Short fiction[]

  • The Disastrous Tale of Vera and Linus (with Thordis Björnsdottir). Reykjavik, Iceland: Nýhil, 2006.
  • Parables & Lies. Lincoln, NE: The Cupboard, 2007.[7]

Collected editions[]

  • The Village on Horseback: Prose and verse, 2003-2008. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2011.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[8]

See also[]

Jesse_Ball_reading_from_his_"March_Book".

Jesse Ball reading from his "March Book".

Jesse_Ball_presents_"The_Census_Taker"_at_the_2016_Creative_Capital_Retreat

Jesse Ball presents "The Census Taker" at the 2016 Creative Capital Retreat

References[]

  • Publisher's Weekly: Review of Vera & Linus. October 2006.
  • Reykjavik Grapevine, "A Deep Strong Hope in Its Core" Profiled with Thordis Bjornsdottir following publication of Vera & Linus. Issue 15, 22 September—5 October 2006.
  • Frettabladid, "Natturulega skaldleg saelstilling" Interview with Thordis Bjornsdottir following publication of Vera & Linus, 9 September 2006.
  • Reykjavik Mag "Elegantly Brutal" Profil with Thordis Bjornsdottir following publication of Vera & Linus, July 2006.
  • POETRY DAILY: 3 July 2006, "Missive in an Icelandic Room 3" (From Denver Quarterly)
  • POETRY DAILY: 10 November 2005, "Parades," "I Followed A Ribbon" (From Paris Review)
  • Fréttabladid: Interview about poetry and about the life of a poet, 27 July 2005.
  • Icelandic Radio FM 90.9: Reykjavík, Iceland. Interview by Gunnar Peturrson for upcoming NYHIL festival, July 2005.
  • Boston Review: Boston, MA. Review of March Book by Desales Harrison. February/March 2005.
  • Book/ Mark: Long Island, NY. Review of March Book by Claire Nicholas-White. 2004.
  • The Times, Smithtown, NY; Port Times Record, Port Jefferson, NY. Profile following the publication of March Book. March 2004.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ The Times, Smithtown, NY; Port Times Record, Port Jefferson, NY. Profile following the publication of March Book. March 2004.
  2. ↑ Icelandic Radio FM 90.9: Reykjavík, Iceland. Interview by Gunnar Peturrson for upcoming NYHIL festival, July 2005.
  3. ↑ Jesse Ball, Poetry Foundation. Web, Aug. 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Best American Poetry 2006
  5. ↑ Fréttabladid: Interview about poetry and about the life of a poet, 27 July 2005.
  6. ↑ Boston Review
  7. ↑ Parables & Lies, The Cupboard. Web, Aug. 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ Search results = au:Jesse Ball, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 23, 2015.

External links[]

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