Kazim Ali (born April 5, 1971) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and professor. His most recent books are Inquisition (Wesleyan University Press, 2018) and All One's Blue (Harper Collins India, 2016). His honors include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. His poetry and essays have been featured in many literary journals and magazines including The American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Barrow Street, Jubilat, The Iowa Review, West Branch and Massachusetts Review, and in anthologies including The Best American Poetry 2007.
Life
He was born in the UK to parents of Indian descent, and raised in Canada and the United States. Kazim Ali received a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from the University at Albany, and an MFA in creative writing from New York University.
In 2003, he co-founded the independent press Nightboat Books, served as its publisher from 2004 to 2007, and currently serves as a founding editor.
Ali is professor of literature and creative Writing at University of California, San Diego and has taught in the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine. Previously, he taught in the Liberal Arts Department of The Culinary Institute of America, at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, at Monroe College, and at Oberlin College.
Awards and honors
2014 Ohioana Book Award in poetry for Sky Ward
2014 Best Translated Book Award, Poetry, one of two runners-up for The Oasis of Now by Sohrab Sepehri, translated from the Persian by Kazim Ali and Mohammad Jafar Mahallati 2009 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council
Published works
Poetry
The Far Mosque (Alice James Books, 2005) The Fortieth Day (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2008) Bright Felon (Wesleyan University Press, 2009) Sky Ward (Wesleyan, 2013) All One's Blue (Harper Collins India, 2016) Inquisition (Wesleyan University Press, 2018)
Fiction
Quinn’s Passage (BlazeVOX Books, 2004) The Disappearance of Seth (Etruscan Press, 2009) Wind Instrument (Spork Press, 2014) Uncle Sharif's Life in Music (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2016) The Secret Room (Kaya Press, 2017)
Nonfiction
Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art and the Architecture of Silence (University of Michigan Press, 2010) Fasting for Ramadan: Notes on a Spiritual Practice (Tupelo Press, 2011) Resident Alien: On Border-Crossing and the Undocumented Divine (University of Michigan Press, 2015) Anaïs Nin: An Unprofessional Study (Agape Editions, 2017) Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies (Tupelo Press, 2018) Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water (Goose Lane Editions / Milkweed Editions, 2021)
Translations
Water's Footfall, Poems of Sohrab Sepehri, translated by Kazim Ali and Mohammad Jafar Mahallati (Omnidawn Press, 2011). . The Oasis of Now, Poems of Sohrab Sepehri, translated from the Persian by Kazim Ali and Mohammad Jafar Mahallati (BOA, 2013). . L'Amour by Marguerite Duras (Open Letter Books, 2013) Abahn Sabana David by Marguerite Duras (Open Letter Books, 2016)
Anthologies
Mad Heart Be Brave: Essays on the Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali (University of Michigan Press, 2017)
References
Sources
Oberlin College: Creative Writing Department > Faculty Bio > Kazim Ali
BOA Editions > Author Page > Kazim Ali
Author Website
University of Southern Maine: Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing > Faculty Profile > Kazim Ali
External links
Video: Poetry Reading by Kazim Ali/Two short poems
Audio: Kazim Ali Reading for Fishousepoems.org
Essay: National Book Critics Circle Blog > Small Press Spotlight: Kazim Ali > A mini-essay: A Brief Poetics: to Layla Al-Attar > August 16, 2008 Essay: Poetry Foundation Blog Posting of Poetry Is Dangerous > By Kazim Ali Interview: KickingWind.com > October 15, 2006 > Every Other Day Interview with Kazim Ali Under A Warm Green Linden: Interview with Kazim Ali on The Far Mosque