David Kirby, English professor, Ph. D. Johns Hopkins (1969), specializes in American literature and poetry. He was named a McKenzie Professor in 1989.

David Kirby answers the telephone with the joy of a seven-year-old on Christmas morning. Who knows what may be waiting for him on the other end of the line? In a span of two weeks this past spring, Kirby received a Guggenheim Fellowship for exceptional creativity and a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor award, the highest honor the FSU faculty can bestow upon a colleague.

"The local award is much more important," said Kirby. "These are the people you work with and see everyday. They are the ones who really know you."

Although he's an expert in 19th-century American literature and has written several books on literary criticism, Kirby is famous as a poet. He's a leader in the Stand-up Poetry movement, as in "stand-up comedy." He crafts humorous narratives. His recent collections include My Twentieth Century (Orchises,1999) and The House of Blue Light (LSU Press, 2000).

"I've been writing poetry since I was a little kid," says Kirby. "But I've always believed that a poet needs to do something other than write poetry."

He plans on using the grant that comes with the Guggenheim Fellowship to finance three summers of writing. Kirby says, " I need to be in the classroom. That's where I get a lot of ideas. And then in the summer I'll go hide somewhere and write." —J.C.