Jim Barnes (writer)

Jim Barnes (writer)

Jim Weaver McKown Barnes (born 1933) is a Native American author born near Summerfield, Oklahoma (in LeFlore County) and is of Choctaw and Welsh heritage. He received his BA from Southeastern State College in Durant, Oklahoma (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1964 and his MA (1965) and Ph.D. (1972) from the University of Arkansas. He taught at Truman State University from 1970 to 2003, where he was Professor of Comparative Literature and Writer-in-Residence. After retiring from Truman State, he was Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at Brigham Young University until 2006. On January 15, 2009, Barnes was named Oklahoma poet laureate for 2009-2010.

Barnes is the founding editor of the Chariton Review Press and editor of The Chariton Review. He is also a contributing editor to the Pushcart Prize. He has published over 500 poems in more than 100 journals, as well as numerous translations. He has sat on several National Endowment for the Arts committees and is presently Poetry Editor for the Truman State University Press. Barnes has given readings of his work at many college and university campuses, and his work is widely anthologized.