John Keene is a writer, translator, and literary advocate. His recent books include the story and novella collection Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015); the art book GRIND (ITI Press, 2016), an art-text collaboration with photographer Nicholas Muellner; and the poetry chapbook Playland (Seven Kitchens Press, 2016). He also has translated the Brazilian author Hilda Hilst’s novel Letters from a Seducer (Nightboat Books, 2014). His recent honors include an American Book Award and Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction, as well as a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. He chairs the department of African American and African Studies, teaches English and creative writing at Rutgers University-Newark, and blogs at J’s Theater.