Rice English professor receives MacArthur Fellowship: 'I'm not big into awards and recognition, but this one feels special'

Rice University English professor Kiese Laymon has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, which is colloquially known as the “genius grant,” according to a press release.

The release said that the Mississippi-born Laymon is Rice’s second recipient of the grant. 

“I'm not big into awards and recognition, but this one feels special,” Laymon said in the release.

Per the university, Laymon, who’s also a writer, joined its School of Humanities earlier this year as the Libbie Shearn Moody professor of creative writing and English.

Laymon’s works focus on his perspective as a black man in the American South.

“I’m just thankful,” he said, according to the release. “Some really incredible people thought my work was OK. That's a big deal to me.”

Among those showering Laymon with praise is Rice President Dr. Reginald DesRoches.

“This is a huge win for Keise, Rice Humanities and Rice as a whole,” DesRoches said in a tweet.

According to the university, Laymon is the author of books such as “Long Division” and “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America,” which he first published nearly a decade ago and obtained rights to in 2020.

He has also written for ESPN, Vanity Fair and several other high-profile publications, the release said.

Laymon holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in Ohio and a master’s degree from Indiana University Bloomington (IU).

According to the MacArthur Foundation’s website, the fellowship is a five-year grant awarded to those who demonstrate “exceptional creativity in their work.”

“The selection decisions focus primarily on exceptional creativity, as demonstrated through a track record of significant achievement, and manifest promise for important future advances,” the foundation explains. “Emphasis is placed on nominees for whom our support would relieve limitations that inhibit them from pursuing their most innovative ideas.”

Rice said that Laymon and other 2022 MacArthur Fellows will receive an $800,000 grant they can use in ways that they see it.

The first-ever genius grant was awarded in 1981.