Poet Jericho Brown, Louisiana native with New Orleans ties, wins MacArthur ‘genius’ grant

Jericho Brown, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who grew up in Shreveport and has ties to New Orleans, was selected as a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, a prestigious award often referred to as a “genius grant.”

Brown earned an undergraduate degree in 1998 from Dillard University, a historically Black university in New Orleans, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of New Orleans in 2002. While in the master’s program, he worked as a speechwriter for then-New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial.

He also holds a doctorate in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston and currently teaches English and is the director of the creative writing program at Emory University in Atlanta. 

Brown won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry for his collection of poems called “The Tradition.” He has published three collections of poetry, as well as a 2016 poem entitled, “Meditations at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.”

“I’m from Louisiana,” he told UNO after being awarded the Pulitzer. “I know how to celebrate a big win!”

Announced Tuesday, this year’s MacArthur fellowship class includes 22 people from a variety of disciplines, including evolutionary biologists, writers, a historian, a violinist, a filmmaker, an oceanographer and a disability rights activist.

There is no application for the grant, which is given annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and includes a $800,000 no-strings-attached award distributed over five years.

The MacArthur Foundation lauded Brown for his “frankness and vulnerability about love, both filial and erotic.”

“In poems with astonishing lyrical beauty, Brown illuminates the experiences of marginalized people and shows the relevance and value of formal experimentation,” the foundation wrote.

New Orleans ties 

Mona Lisa Saloy, a former Louisiana Poet Laureate who teaches at Dillard, said she acted as a mentor to Brown during his days at the university when his poetry talent began to blossom. At Dillard, she said, he was encouraged to submit his work to contests and the student journal and attend conferences; he also had dinner with celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant.

“I’m so proud for all that Jericho has achieved,” she said. “We admire him and all he continues to do. We cheer him. We love him. We are forever proud of him.”

Dillard president Manque Guillory praised Brown for using his “words and voice” to “elevate the significance of interpersonal connection amid our individual yet collective identities.”

Brown has also maintained close ties with UNO, said Samuel Gladden, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Human Development. UNO awarded Brown an honorary doctorate degree in 2021 when he gave an “unforgettable address” at the school’s commencement ceremony, Gladden said. Brown also met and shared career advice with students and faculty in UNO’s Creative Writing Workshop last year.

“Dr. Brown is a gifted and thought-provoking poet and teacher who regularly supports and inspires students,” Gladden said. “We are all so very proud of his connection to our institution, and we congratulate him on yet another honor.”