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Brian Turner, an award-winning poet and California
State University, Fresno alumnus, has won a $50,000 unrestricted 2009
United States Artists Fellowship.
The fellowship program, funded by the Ford Foundation and other
arts-supporting organizations, awards its fellowships to 50 artists in a
variety of disciplines to reward achievement and encourage creativity.
Turner, a Visalia native, won acclaim for his poetic memoirs of Army
service in Iraq, published as “Here, Bullet” in 2005. He was an infantry
team leader in Iraq. He received the Charity Randall Prize for Poetry,
the Poet’s Prize and the PEN Center USA Best in the West Literary Award
for the book.
Turner’s work also attracted the attention of the Lannan Foundation,
which awarded its 2006 prize to help him work on new material.
His second book, “Phantom Noise,” is scheduled to be published by Alice
James Books in April 2010.
He was the 2009-10 Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship winner,
receiving a stipend to finance his travels abroad for the entire year.
Turner’s essays or poetry have appeared in the New York Times, Southern
Accents magazine and in numerous literary journals and other
publications. His work also has been featured on National Public Radio
and on the BBC.
Turner has taught in the Master of Fine Arts program at Fresno State and
at Fresno City College.
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