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Luke Kennard

Biography

Luke Kennard

Luke Kennard is an award-winning poet and novelist. In 2014, he was named one of the Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society in their once-per-decade list. His collection, CAIN, was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and described by Alan Hollinghurst as “the cleverest and funniest thing I’ve read this year,” and NOTES ON THE SONNETS won the Forward prize for Best Poetry Collection in 2021. THE TRANSITION, his first novel, was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Luke Kennard lives in Birmingham, UK, where he teaches Creative Writing at Birmingham University.

Luke Kennard

Books by Luke Kennard

Black Bag
by Luke Kennard - Fiction, Humor

A penniless and out-of-work actor picks up a job working for Dr. Blend, a university professor who is conducting a psychological experiment. How will Dr. Blend’s students react to someone zipped into an oversized bag, sitting at the back of the lecture hall over a series of Fall lectures? The role, eagerly accepted, soon has unexpected consequences. A professor of post-humanism develops research questions of her own --- in particular, can you love someone secreted away inside a black bag? --- and the actor’s childhood friend forms a vision for monetizing this new situation.

The Transition
by Luke Kennard - Dystopian, Fiction, Satire

Do you or your partner spend more than you earn? Have your credit card debts evolved into collection letters? Has either of you considered turning to a life of a crime? You are not alone. We know. We can help. Welcome to the Transition. While taking part in the Transition, you and your partner will spend six months living under the supervision of your mentors, two successful adults of a slightly older generation. Freed from your financial responsibilities, you will be coached through the key areas of the scheme --- Employment, Nutrition, Responsibility, Relationship, Finances and Self-respect --- until you are ready to be reintegrated into adult society. At the end of your six months, who knows what discoveries you’ll have made about yourself?