Kevin Young is a poet who has published seven collections of his works and four poetry anthologies. Young’s writings are centered around African American music and culture. In particular, he is influenced by the blues, and its forms often provide the structure for his poems. His collection, For the Confederate Dead (2007) was awarded the Paterson Poetry Prize for Sustained Literary Achievement and the Quill Award in Poetry. His collection, Jelly Roll: A Blues (2004) was also a Paterson Poetry Prize Winner. He received an MFA from Brown University in 1996 and is currently the Atticus Haygood Professor of Creative Writing and English at Emory University.