Biography

David Kirby's collection The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2007. Kirby is the author of Little Richard: The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll, which the Times Literary Supplement of London called “a hymn of praise to the emancipatory power of nonsense.” Kirby’s honors include fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. His latest poetry collection is Get Up, Please.

Schedule

1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
State Library of Louisiana, Capitol View Room
Discussion
A Conversation with David Kirby

2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookselling Tent
Book Signing

Get Up, Please: Poems

“Cheerful and boyish, Kirby’s poems [are] . . . written as though Kirby was trying to keep up with some bright inspiration moving at breakneck speed.”—Publishers Weekly

“Kirby [is] a poet of shared humanity. . . . His poetry embraces subjects, words, and readers of all types in a blaze of ebullience and humility.”—Harvard Review

“We're aflutter with anticipation of what drama is next to unfold from this dignified yet funny storyteller.”—Library Journal

“Kirby's discursive poetry is something fresh. . . . I'm glad he's out there.”—Parnassus: Poetry in Review

In comical and complex poems, David Kirby examines our extraordinarily human condition through the lens of our ordinary daily lives. These keenly observant poems range from the streets of India, Russia, Turkey, and Port Arthur, Texas, to the imaginations of fellow poets Keats and Rilke, and to ruminations on the mundane side of life via the imperfect sandwich. 

Whether remembering girls’ singing groups of the 1950s or recounting a child asking his priest if his dog would go to heaven, Kirby entertains us even as he makes us think and brings us to tears through our laughter.