David Haynes

Background

David Haynes was born on August 30, 1955 in St. Louis, Mo, in the family of Gene Haynes and Priscilla Patrick.

Education

David Haynes earned his B.A. in literature from Macalester College, Minnesota in 1977 and his M.A. from Hamline University, Minnesota in 1989.

Career

A former fifth and sixth grade teacher, he served as a teacher in residence at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Haynes also served on the leadership team at the experimental Saturn School of Tomorrow. His book Right by My Side (1993) was a winner in the 1992 Minnesota Voices Project and was selected by the American Library Association as one of 1994's best books for young adults. Haynes was also an associate professor and the director of creative writing at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Achievements

• In 1984 David received the Fiction prize from City Pages for the story “Taking Miss Kezee to the Polls”. In 1994 his book "Right By My Side" was named “one of the best books for young adults” by American Library Association. In 1996 Granta magazine named Haynes as one of the best young American novelists. In 1996 his novel "Somebody Else’s Mama" was selected as one of the best of the young American novelists, Granta.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Heathens 1997
  • A Star in the Face of the Sky (American Fiction) 2013
  • Right by My Side
  • Somebody Else's Mama (Harvest Book)
  • Live at Five (Harvest Book)
  • The Gumma Wars (Summit Books: the West 7th Street Series)
  • Business As Usual (Summit Books: The West 7th Street Series)
  • All American Dream Dolls (Harvest Book)

Views

Quotations: “I don’t tell the popular narratives, the commercial narratives, that one is supposed to tell as an African American writer, and there is a price to be paid for that”.

Membership

He was a member of Minnesota Humanities Commission, The Loft, and New Rivers Press.

Connections

Father:

Gene Haynes

Mother:

Priscilla Patrick