# Adam Falkner

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{{short description|American writer}}
{{distinguish|Adam Faulkner (disambiguation){{!}}Adam Faulkner}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Adam Falkner
| image              = AdamFalkner-byPhilipRomano.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Falkner in 2026
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = 
| birth_place        = [Ann Arbor](/source/Ann_Arbor), [Michigan](/source/Michigan), U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = Writer
| years_active       = 
| known_for          = 
| notable_works      = ''The Willies''
}}
'''Adam Falkner''' is an American writer, poet, artist, and educator.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/pop-up-poets/|title=On the Train, or at the Laundromat, Your Poem Begins … Now|last=Malesevic|first=Dusica Sue|date=2013-04-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

Falkner is a [Pushcart Prize](/source/Pushcart_Prize) nominee. His work has appeared in ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', and he has been a featured performer at President [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama)'s Grassroots Ball at the [2009 Presidential Inauguration](/source/First_inauguration_of_Barack_Obama).<ref name=":0"/>

==Education==
Falkner is from [Ann Arbor](/source/Ann_Arbor),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecurrent.com/arts-culture/a-new-era-for-ann-arbor-youth-writers/|title=A New Era for Ann Arbor Youth Writers|last=Zick|first=Anthony|date=August 1, 2017|publisher=Current|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> [Michigan](/source/Michigan), and attended the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan) as an undergraduate student.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://igr.umich.edu/article/alumni-spotlight-adam-falkner|title=Alumni Spotlight: Adam Falkner |publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> He holds a MA in English from [Brooklyn College](/source/Brooklyn_College), and a PhD in English & Education from [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2020/02/new-in-february-2/|title=New in February: Brandon Taylor, R. Eric Thomas, and Lidia Yuknavitch|last=Shrayfer|first=Lilia|date=February 5, 2020|publisher=Lambda Literary|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

==Career==
Falkner's writing and work focus on intersectional themes of race, gender, queer life and social justice education.

===Writing===
Falkner's book, ''The Willies'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://buttonpoetry.com/product/the-willies/|title=The Willies|last=Falkner|first=Adam|publisher=Button Poetry|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> is a  portrait of the "journey into queerhood" in America.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thrushpoetryjournal.com/awards.html|title=Best New Poets 2020 Nominations|date=2020|publisher=Thrush Poetry Journal|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> The book has received praise from [National Book Award](/source/National_Book_Award)-winning author [Andrew Solomon](/source/Andrew_Solomon), and from writers and critics [Saeed Jones](/source/Saeed_Jones), [Hanif Abdurraqib](/source/Hanif_Abdurraqib), and [Patricia Smith](/source/Patricia_Smith_(poet)) for its “vulnerability, determination, lyricism and incisiveness.” ''The Willies'' was the winner of the Midwestern Independent Book Award and the Foreword Reviews Gold Medal prize.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patch.com/rhode-island/providence/calendar/event/20200318/776838/adam-falkner-poetry-performance|title=Adam Falkner: Poetry Performance|last=Fuentes|first=Janet|date=Mar 18, 2020|publisher=Patch|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.them.us/story/read-me-adam-falker-the-willies|title=Adam Falkner Confronts Queer Shame, and His Father's Alcoholism, in The Willies|last=Goodman|first=Elyssa|date=February 6, 2020|publisher=them.us|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

Falkner has been nominated for a [Pushcart Prize](/source/Pushcart_Prize). His work also has appeared in ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' and on TED, and he was a featured performer at President [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama)'s Grassroots Ball at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.bluestoop.org/events/2020/2/4/porsha-olayiwola-in-conversation-w-adam-faulkner|title=Philly Writers|last=[Olayiwola](/source/Porsha_Olayiwola)|first=Porsha|date=2020-02-04|publisher=Bluestoop|access-date=June 20, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Educational leadership===
Prior to pursuing doctoral study at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University)'s Teachers College, Falkner taught high school English in New York City's public schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.golocalprov.com/lifestyle/mount-pleasant-library-to-host-award-winning-poet-falkner-for-night-of-perf|title=Mount Pleasant Library to Host Award-Winning Poet Falkner for Night of Performance Poetry|date=February 19, 2020|publisher=golocalprov.com|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> He founded the Dialogue Arts Project,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://crescendowork.com/workplace-inclusion-blog/2020/1/28/welcoming-dr-adam-falkner|title=Unlocking human connection in the workplace and beyond: Introducing Dr. Adam Falkner to the Crescendo Team|last=Chauhan|first=Anita|date=2020-01-28|publisher=Crescendo Work|access-date=June 20, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tsf.njit.edu/2012/spring/faulkner.php|title=Performance, Poetry and the Dialogue Arts Project|date=2012|publisher=New Jersey Institute of Technology|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.carleton.edu/media_relations/press_releases/?story_id=1237093|title=Convocation profiles the Dialogue Arts Project, using creative writing and art to generate dialogue about social identity and difference|date=January 23, 2015|publisher=Carleton University|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commonpodcast.com/home/2017/9/5/episode-36-dialogue-arts-project|title=Episode 36: Dialogue Arts Project|date=2017-09-05|publisher=Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People)|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> and is a national lecturer and consultant around themes of racial equity and culturally empowering education.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thelamron.com/posts/2019/11/22/cultivating-community-series-lecturer-invites-students-to-be-more-considerate-as-they-interact-with-other-people|title=Cultivating Community series lecturer invites students to be more considerate as they interact with other people|last=Gellmann|first=Elizabeth|date=2019-11-22|publisher=thelamron.com|access-date=June 20, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/11/rza-azealia-banks-bove-beats-rhymes|title=Watch the trailer for RZA's upcoming film starring Azealia Banks|last=Montgomery|first=Sarah Jasmine|date=2017-10-11|publisher=The Fader|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref> He has taught English Education and Sociology at [Vassar College](/source/Vassar_College) and Columbia University's Teachers College.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh_foqBkggs|title=How can writing change the world?|date=Oct 7, 2013|publisher=New Jersey Institute of Technology|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

===Scholarship and research===
Falkner is a scholar of critical English education. His research, initially under the direction of Dr. [Ernest Morrell](/source/Ernest_Morrell), examines performance and storytelling rituals in schools and companies as tools to cultivate (and measure impact around) dialogue pertaining to identity, culture and politics.

===Acting and others===
Falkner is also an actor and a musician. He has played supporting roles in several films, including ''Lionsgate's Love'', ''Beats & Rhymes'', which starred rappers [Azealia Banks](/source/Azealia_Banks) and [Common](/source/Common_(rapper)).

==Personal life==
Falkner is gay. He currently lives in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brooklynpoets.org/poet/patricia-smith/|title=Poet Of The Week: Patricia Smith|date=February 17, 2020|publisher=Brooklyn Poets|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
;Books
*''The Willies''. Button Poetry, 2020

;Chapbooks
*''Adoption''. Diode Editions, 2018
*''Ten For Faheem'', 2012

;Articles
*''The Power of Touch''. The Guardian, 2020
*''Race and Voting Rights: The All-Too Familiar Battle for the Ballet''. PBS' World Channel, 2020

;Poems
*''Love Me A Man Who Cries''. Catapult, 2020
*''The Year The Wu-Tang Drops''. THRUSH, 2017
*''Connor Everywhere But''. Painted Bride Quarterly, 2012

;Anthologized
*''Resisting Arrest'', University of Georgia Press, 2018
*''The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip Hop''. Haymarket Books, 2016
*''Uncommon Core: Contemporary Poems for Living and Learning''. Red Beard Press, 2014<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/37449954|title=Uncommon Core: Contemporary Poems for Learning and Living |last=Falkner|first=Adam|access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.adamfalknerarts.com/}}
*[https://buttonpoetry.com/product/the-willies/ ''The Willies'' at Button Poetry Press]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkner, Adam}}
Category:Living people
Category:American male poets
Category:Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan
Category:American gay writers
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American poets
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:American LGBTQ poets
Category:LGBTQ people from Michigan
Category:Gay poets

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adam Falkner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Falkner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Falkner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.