Poets & Writers
Published on Poets & Writers (https://www.pw.org)

Home > Kirby Michael Wright

Kirby Michael Wright [1]

Listed as: 
Poet, Fiction Writer
Public address: 
Vista, CA
California US
Email: 
kibs33@yahoo.com
Bio: 

I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I am a graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu and the University of California at San Diego. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. I have been nominated for five Pushcart Prizes and three Best of the Nets. I am a past recipient of the Honolulu Weekly Nonfiction Prize, the Jodi Stutz Memorial Prize in Poetry, the Ann Fields Poetry Prize, the Redwood Empire Mensa Award for Creative Nonfiction, the Academy of American Poets Award, two Browning Society Awards for Dramatic Monologue, and Arts Council Silicon Valley Fellowships in Poetry and The Novel. BEFORE THE CITY, my first book of poetry, took First Place at the 2003 San Diego Book Awards. I am also the author of the companion novels PUNAHOU BLUES and MOLOKA’I NUI AHINA, both set in Hawaii. I was a Visiting Fellow at the 2009 International Writers Conference in Hong Kong, where I represented the Pacific Rim region of Hawaii and lectured with Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder. I was also a Visiting Writer at the 2010 Martha's Vineyard Writers Residency in Edgartown, MA, the 2011 Artist in Residence at Milkwood International, Czech Republic, the 2014 Resident Scholar at the Earthskin Artist Colony in Auckland, New Zealand, and the 2016 Artist in Residence in the Åland Islands, Finland. Two of my plays have been performed at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City and a third at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre in New York. My most recent play appeared at the 2019 PlayBuilders Festival in Honolulu. My latest book is THE QUEEN OF MOLOKA'I, a work of creative nonfiction based on the life and times of my hapa haole grandmother. 

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
In which languages are you fluent?: 
English
Favorite authors: 
Joyce, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Crane, Goethe, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Rimbaud, Kafka, Plath, Eliot, Purdy, Kawabata, Mann, Sam Shepard, Tennessee Williams, Albee, Salinger, Dostoyevsky
Twitter/X: 
https://twitter.com/kibs33
Born in: 
Honolulu, HI
Hawaii
Raised in: 
Honolulu, HI
Hawaii
RSS feed: 
https://kirbywrightblog.wordpress.com/fe… [2]
Website: 
https://kirbywrightblog.wordpress.com [3]
Prizes won: 

2018 Redwood Empire Mensa Award for Creative Nonfiction, Resident Writer at the The Åland Islands Residency (Finland), Resident Scholar at Earthskin Muriwai (New Zealand), Official Selection for the 2016 One Act Festival at New York's Secret Theatre, New York Mills Cultural Center Artist in Residence, Ad Hoc Flash Fiction Award, Second Place Brilliant Flash Fiction Award, Jodi Stutz Memorial Prize in Poetry, Ann Fields Poetry Prize, Academy of American Poets Poetry Prize, Browning Society Award for Dramatic Monologue, Arts Council Silicon Valley Artist Fellowships for Poetry and The Novel, Visiting Writer Fellowship for International Writers Conference in Hong Kong, First Place in Poetry by San Diego Book Awards Association, First Place in Alsop Review Fiction Competition, Editor's Circle Award in Poetry Magazine, First Place in The Political Poet Poetry Competition (in Honor of Walt Whitman), Finalist in The Bevel Summers Story Prize, Honolulu Weekly Poetry Prize, Honolulu Weekly Essay Prize, Second Place Prairie Schooner Nonfiction Award, Finalist in The Tony Quagliano International Poetry Award, Muses Review Poet Neophyte of the Month, Featured Writer of the Month at Crack the Spine Literary Magazine, Featured Writer at Embodied Effigies Magazine, Ka Palapala Po'okela Book Awards Honorable Mention, Seven Certificates of Excellence from the San Diego Book Awards, Five Pushcart Prize Nominations, Short List Bath Flash Fiction Award, Featured Writer of the Month at Kona Public Library, Certificate of Recognition by the California State Assembly, Who's Who in the West, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Foley Poetry Prize.

Education: 
San Francisco State University
What I'm reading now: 
The Bridge by Hart Crane
The Sufferings of Young Werther by Goethe
Djinn by Alain Robbe-Grillet
The Candles of your Eyes by James Purdy
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
Identifies as: 
Pacific Islander
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Seniors

Source URL:https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/kirby_michael_wright

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/kirby_michael_wright [2] https://kirbywrightblog.wordpress.com/feed/ [3] https://kirbywrightblog.wordpress.com