In the Language of My Captor

Whiting FoundationApril 1, 2011Poetry

About This Book

Shane McCrae is recognized for his poetry — including the collection Blood — for his formally innovative explorations of race, violence, and American history. This record is a writer-level placeholder for his Whiting Award.

About the Author

Shane McCraeAmerican

Shane McCrae (born 1975) is an American poet who was kidnapped by his white supremacist maternal grandparents at age three and raised apart from his Black father until reuniting at 16. He holds degrees from Linfield College, the University of Iowa (MFA and MA), and Harvard Law School (JD), and currently teaches in Columbia University's MFA program while serving as Poetry Editor of Image. His work has earned a Whiting Award, Lannan Literary Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for In the Language of My Captor, a National Book Award finalist. Read more →