Thomas E. Kennedy

Last updated
Thomas E. Kennedy
Born(1944-03-09)March 9, 1944
New York City, U.S.
Died2021 (aged 7677)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation
  • Writer
  • essayist
  • translator
NationalityAmerican
Education Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
City College of New York
Fordham University (BA)
Vermont College (MFA)
University of Copenhagen (PhD)

Thomas E. Kennedy (born March 9, 1944, died in Copenhagen 2021) was an American fiction writer, essayist, and translator from Danish. He is the author of more than 30 books, including novels, story and essay collections, literary criticism, translation, and most notably the four novels of the Copenhagen Quartet. Of the quartet, David Applefield, author of Paris Inside Out and The Unofficial Guide to Paris series of books, writes: “Kennedy does for Copenhagen what Joyce did for Dublin.” [1] Kennedy was the co-founder of Serving House Books, a literary press with more than 100 titles in print at the time of his retirement.

Contents

The Copenhagen Quartet

After twenty-five years of publishing in small presses and literary magazines, Kennedy was discovered by Bloomsbury Publishing, which offered him a four-book contract, starting in 2010, for his Copenhagen Quartet: four independent novels, with each set in a different season in the Danish capital, and each written in a different literary style.

As an American expatriate who lived in Copenhagen since 1976, Kennedy infused the novels of the quartet with a wealth of historical and cultural details about the city. In particular, Kerrigan in Copenhagen: A Love Story, which is set in spring, is a novel disguised as a guide to Copenhagen's serving houses (a.k.a. pubs). Each chapter takes place in one or more of nearly 60 different pubs. Although each book of the quartet may be read independently, Kerrigan in Copenhagen establishes an in-depth background of the Danish history and culture. The New York Times describes this novel as "a spiraling exploration of alcohol, history, literature, art and jazz." [2]

See also The Washington Post review of In the Company of Angels. [3]

Early life and education

Born in Queens, New York City, Kennedy was the youngest of four children. He graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in 1961, volunteered for the draft, and served in the United States Army in 1962-1963. He spent much of the 1960s hitchhiking around the country and later wrote a collection of essays about his experiences, Riding the Dog: A Look Back at America.

He studied for a year and a half at the City College of New York (1961, 1968), and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, in 1974. He then relocated to Europe, first working in Ferney-Voltaire, France, as News Editor of World Medical Journal (1974-1976), a publication of the World Medical Association. At the age of 32, he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he lived out his life.

Kennedy worked as head of the international department of the Danish Medical Association, Managing Editor of Danish Medical Bulletin, and from 1976 to 2004 as a translator for the Danish Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims, now known as the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRC). While in the latter capacity, he traveled extensively worldwide and completed his Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree at Vermont College (1983-1985) and his Ph.D. in American literature at the University of Copenhagen (1985-1988).

His affiliation with the IRC greatly influenced his novel In the Company of Angels, which is among those from his Copenhagen Quartet. The novel won an Eric Hoffer Book Award in 2007 under the title of Greene's Summer. [4]

Literary career

Concurrent with his work as an international executive, Kennedy taught fiction and creative nonfiction in various short-term seminars and low-residency MFA programs in the United States, including Vermont College (1985-1988) and Fairleigh Dickinson University (2004–present).

He served as international editor, advisory editor, and contributing editor to various publications, including Cimarron Review (1990-2000), Pushcart Prize (1990-present), The Literary Review (1996–present), Absinthe: New European Writing (2003-2013), and Serving House: A Journal of Literary Arts (2010–present). He co-edits with Walter Cummins two columns for WebDelSol.Com, [5] [6] as well as serves as co-publisher and co-editor with Cummins of Serving House Books.

More than 300 of Kennedy’s stories, essays, and translations from the Danish language have been published in numerous journals, such as The New Yorker online, [7] New Letters, [8] The Independent in London, Esquire Weekly,Glimmer Train, [9] Writer’s Chronicle, and The Literary Review, [10] among numerous others. [11]

Founding of Serving House Books

Serving House Books was founded by Thomas E. Kennedy and Walter Cummins in 2009. Their idea was to publish books that had a hard time finding the right home, in addition to forgotten out-of-print books. Serving House Books, was born as an homage to the main character in Tom’s novel, Kerrigan in Copenhagen—to his vibrant excursions to Danish bars, taverns, and other serving houses. [12] When Kennedy retired from an active role with the imprint, he left with more than one hundred SHB titles in circulation, a number of which have been honored as winners or finalists for a variety of awards, including Kirkus independent press books of the year. The press was continued for a number of years by Cummins until his retirement and when William K Lawrence assumed the role. [13]

Awards and honors

Kennedy’s work has won several awards, including the O. Henry Prize [14] and two Pushcart Prizes, most recently in 2015. [15]

In 2007, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs dedicated a panel to Kennedy’s fiction work. [16]

That same year, he won two Eric Hoffer Awards [4] for novels: Winner in Micro-Press category: Greene’s Summer (re-released as In the Company of Angels in 2010); and First Runner-Up in General Fiction category: Danish Fall (re-released as Falling Sideways in 2011).

In 2008, his essay “I Am Joe’s Prostate” won a National Magazine Award. [17] [18]

In addition, he won multiple grants from the Danish Arts Council for his translations from Danish to American English of many poets and writers (including Dan Turèll, Henrik Nordbrandt, Pia Tafdrup, Kristian Bang Foss, Line-Maria Lång, and Martin Glaz Serup).

In 2016, he was awarded the Dan Turéll Prize by the Turèll Society for his books of the COPENHAGEN QUARTET (2010-2014) and his translations of Danish poets and writers, chiefly Dan Turèll. He was given the silver Turèll medal, on the occasion of what would have been Turèll's 70th birthday.

Selected bibliography

Kennedy has produced an extensive catalog of works during a 50-year career as a writer, editor, and academic. The following bibliography lists only a fraction; a comprehensive list, including publications in journals and magazines, is available in the Spring 2008 issue of The South Carolina Review. [11]

Novels

Novel-in-essays

Short-story collections

Essay collections

Literary criticism

Translations

Spoken-word recording

Anthologies

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Blixen</span> Danish writer (1885–1962)

Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Tania Blixen, used in German-speaking countries; Osceola, and Pierre Andrézel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Durrell</span> British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer

Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wolfe</span> American novelist (1900–1938)

Thomas Clayton Wolfe was an American writer. The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction states that "Wolfe was a major American novelist of the first half of the twentieth century, whose longterm reputation rests largely on the impact of his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929), and on the short fiction that appeared during the last years of his life." Along with William Faulkner, he is considered one of the two most important authors of the Southern Renaissance within the American literary canon. He remains an important writer in modern American literature, as one of the first masters of autobiographical fiction, and is considered among North Carolina's most famous writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ha Jin</span> Chinese-American writer

Jin Xuefei is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (哈金). Ha comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. S. Byatt</span> British writer (1936–2023)

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, known professionally by her former married name, A. S. Byatt, was an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to submit up to six works they have featured. Anthologies of the selected works have been published annually since 1976. It is supported and staffed by volunteers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Mallon</span> American novelist, essayist, and critic (born 1951)

Thomas Mallon is an American novelist, essayist, and critic. His novels are renowned for their attention to historical detail and context and for the author's crisp wit and interest in the "bystanders" to larger historical events. He is the author of ten books of fiction, including Henry and Clara, Two Moons, Dewey Defeats Truman, Aurora 7, Bandbox, Fellow Travelers, Watergate, Finale, Landfall, and most recently Up With the Sun. He has also published nonfiction on plagiarism, diaries, letters and the Kennedy assassination, as well as two volumes of essays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Dixon (author)</span> American author (1936-2019)

Stephen Dixon was an American author of novels and short stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish literature</span> Literature of Denmark

Danish literature stretches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest preserved texts from Denmark are runic inscriptions on memorial stones and other objects, some of which contain short poems in alliterative verse. In the late 12th century Saxo Grammaticus wrote Gesta Danorum. During the 16th century, the Lutheran Reformation came to Denmark. During this era, Christiern Pedersen translated the New Testament into Danish and Thomas Kingo composed hymns. Fine poetry was created in the early 17th century by Anders Arrebo (1587–1637). The challenges faced during Denmark's absolute monarchy in 1660 are chronicled in Jammersminde by Leonora Christina of the Blue Tower. Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and Humanism, is considered the founder of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. Neoclassical poetry, drama, and the essay flourished during the 18th century influenced by French and English trends. German influence is seen in the verse of the leading poets of the late 18th century such as Johannes Ewald and Jens Baggesen. Other 18th century writers include the hymn writer Hans Adolph Brorson and the satirical poet Johan Herman Wessel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ebershoff</span> American writer, editor, and teacher

David Ebershoff is an American writer, editor, and teacher. His debut novel, The Danish Girl, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 2015, while his third novel, The 19th Wife, was adapted into a television movie of the same name in 2010.

Dan Turèll, affectionately nicknamed "Onkel Danny", was a popular Danish writer with notable influence on Danish literature. His work crossed a number of genres including autobiography, beat literature and crime fiction.

Eric Miles Williamson is an American novelist and literary critic, former member of the Board of Directors of the National Book Critics Circle, and former editor of American Book Review, Boulevard, and Texas Review. Williamson is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and was previously an associate professor of English at the Central Missouri State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Ochse</span> American author and educator (1965–2023)

Weston Ochse was an American author and educator. He won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for his short fiction. His novel SEAL Team 666 is currently being shopped by Seven Bucks Productions. Dwayne Johnson has attached himself to the film to executive produce as well as act in a leading role.

Richard Weston Burgin was an American fiction writer, editor, composer, critic, and academic. He published nineteen books, and from 1996 through 2013 was a professor of Communications and English at Saint Louis University. He was also the founder and publisher of the internationally distributed award-winning literary magazine Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Berman</span> American writer (born 1956)

Mitch Berman is an American fiction writer known for his imaginative range, exploration of characters beyond the margins of society, lush prose style and dark humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Selgin</span> American author and English professor

Peter Selgin is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, editor, and illustrator. Selgin is Associate Professor of English at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Lockwood</span> American poet, author

Patricia Lockwood is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her 2021 debut novel, No One Is Talking About This, won the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her 2017 memoir Priestdaddy won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her poetry collections include Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, a 2014 New York Times Notable Book. Since 2019, she has been a contributing editor for London Review of Books.

Karen Salyer McElmurray is an American writer of creative nonfiction and literary fiction. Her works include Wanting Radiance, The Motel of the Stars: A Novel, Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey, and Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven, as well as numerous essays and short stories. McElmurray was Editor’s Pick by Oxford American in November 2009. She was the recipient of the AWP Award for Creative Nonfiction (2003), and the Lillie Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Henderson (publisher)</span> American author and publisher

Bill Henderson is an American author, editor and publisher best known for his memoirs and the Pushcart Prize series.

Robert Boyers is an American literary essayist, cultural critic and memoirist. Currently, he is the editor of the quarterly magazine Salmagundi, Professor of English at Skidmore College, and Director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, which he founded in 1987.

References

  1. Applefield, David. Frank: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing & Art (October, 1998).
  2. Cokal, Susann. "Soused," a review of Kerrigan in Copenhagen" in The New York Times, July 5, 2013.
  3. Yardley, Jonathan. “Jonathan Yardley Reviews In the Company of Angels by Thomas Kennedy,” in The Washington Post (March 21, 2010).
  4. 1 2 "Eric Hoffer Book award winners". Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
  5. Cummins, Walter and Thomas E. Kennedy. Literary Explorer
  6. Cummins, Walter and Thomas E. Kennedy. "Writers on the Job: Tales of Non-Writing"
  7. Kennedy, Thomas E. “Aggravated Bibliophilism,” in The New Yorker (January 22, 2014)
  8. Kennedy, Thomas E. “In the Dark,” in New Letters 70:3+4 (2004), Honorable Mention in Pushcart Prize XXX, 2006; and “The Bridge Back to Queens,” in New Letters 71:3 (2005): 46-65 (Honorable Mention in Pushcart Prize XXXI, 2007).
  9. Kennedy, Thomas E. “Fellow Travelers,” in Glimmer Train, Issue 63 (Summer 2007): 78-91.
  10. Kennedy, Thomas E. “Remembering the Sixties: A Conversation with Robert Gover,” in The Literary Review 50:2 (Winter 2007): 21-42; reprinted in Serving House Journal, Issue 11 (Winter 2015): online
  11. 1 2 Kennedy, Thomas E. and Alice Maud Guldbrandsen. “Thomas E. Kennedy Bibliography” in The South Carolina Review 40:2 (Spring 2008): 46-63.
  12. "ABOUT". Serving House Books. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  13. "ABOUT". Serving House Books. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  14. Kennedy, Thomas E. “Landing Zone X-Ray,” published in New Letters 58:4 (1994)
  15. Kennedy, Thomas E. “My White House Days,” an essay first published in New Letters and reprinted in Pushcart Prize XXXIX, 2015; and “Murphy’s Angel,” a short story first published in New Delta Review and reprinted in Pushcart Prize XV, 1990.
  16. AWP Panel #R148, “Thomas E. Kennedy: A Lifetime of Literature” (March 1, 2007), in AWP Conference Schedule of Events (page 45).
  17. New Letters tops literary giants, captures prestigious National Magazine Award; UMKC’s resident literary journal wins for Thomas E. Kennedy essay”
  18. New Letters and VQR Win National Magazine Awards,” in Poets & Writers
  19. Originally published by Wynkin de Worde, Ireland; reissued in a revised edition, Kerrigan in Copenhagen, by Bloomsbury Publishing (2013)
  20. Originally published by Wynkin de Worde, Ireland; reissued in a revised edition, Beneath the Neon Egg, by Bloomsbury Publishing (2014)
  21. Originally published by Wynkin de Worde, Ireland; reissued in a revised edition, In the Company of Angels, by Bloomsbury Publishing (2010)
  22. Originally published by Wynkin de Worde, Ireland; reissued in a revised edition, Falling Sideways, by Bloomsbury Publishing (2011)
  23. Cummins, Walter (2021-05-28). "My Life with Women; or, The Consolations of Jazz". Serving House Books. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  24. Colin (2020-03-14). "Our Literary Travels". Serving House Books. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  25. "Last Walk Through the City" by Dan Turèll, translated from the Danish to American English by Thomas E. Kennedy in Serving House Journal
  26. Cummins, Walter (2021-12-30). "Celebrating Thomas E. Kennedy". Serving House Books. Retrieved 2024-05-12.

Further reading