Rate My Professor Jericho Brown

Jericho Brown serves as the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing and director of the Creative Writing Program at Emory University, a position he has held since 2012. He earned his B.A. from Dillard University, M.F.A. from the University of New Orleans, and Ph.D. from the University of Houston. Brown's distinguished career in poetry includes three major collections: Please (New Issues, 2008), which received the American Book Award; The New Testament (Copper Canyon Press, 2014), awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal, Coldfront, and the Academy of American Poets; and The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. Previously known as Emory’s Winship Distinguished Research Professor in Creative Writing, Brown has taught at universities since 2002. His poetry, characterized by formal innovation such as the invented 'duplex' form—a fusion of sonnet, ghazal, and blues—explores themes of masculinity, spirituality, family, sexuality, racial identity, and vulnerability experienced by Black gay men amid contemporary American culture.

Brown's accolades reflect his profound impact on the field, including the 2024 MacArthur Fellowship granting $800,000 over five years, Whiting Writers' Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, National Endowment for the Arts, and USA Artists. In 2024, he was appointed to the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets. His poems appear in prestigious outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Buzzfeed, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and multiple volumes of The Best American Poetry. Brown's work engages with historical urgency, personal introspection, and cultural critique, influencing readers and poets through its blend of delicacy and power. He emphasizes poetry's role in interpreting the past, understanding the present, and shaping the future, while mentoring students in creative writing.