Emory University in Atlanta has announced that is has acquired the papers of poet Nathaniel Mackey. Dr. Mackey is a professor emeritus of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He recently was named the winner of the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
The Mackey collection acquired by the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University contains the author’s correspondence, manuscript drafts, audiovisual materials, papers used in his research, and other materials. The materials have not yet been digitized but are available to researchers.
Professor Mackey taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz for 31 years. He is a graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in English. He earned a Ph.D. at Stanford University. Before joining the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1979, Dr. Mackey taught at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Southern California. At USC, he was the director of the Black studies program.
Dr. Mackey is the author of several collections of poetry. In 2006 he won the National Book Award in the poetry category for his collection, Splay Anthem (New Directions, 2006).
