Cyrus Cassells, a professor in the Department of English at Texas State University, has been nominated for a NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work–Poetry for his collection “The Gospel According to Wild Indigo.”
The preeminent multicultural awards show celebrating the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film, the NAACP Image Awards also honors individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
The winners will be revealed during a two-hour live program airing on TV One on Saturday, March 30.
“I’m honored to be cited as both a poet and cultural critic during this awards period,” Cassells said. “I come from a family of distinguished African-American trailblazers (my father helped to desegregate West Point in the early 50s), so I’m especially thrilled to be recognized by the NAACP.”
Cassells has been an English professor at Texas State for 20 years, and January 2017 marked the 30th anniversary of his teaching career at the college level. He is a cultural critic for The Washington Spectator. He is the author of five additional books of poetry: “The Mud Actor” (1982), winner of the 1981 National Poetry Series competition; “Soul Make a Path through Shouting” (1994), nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the William Carlos William Award; “Beautiful Signor” (1997), winner of the Lambda Literary Award; “More Than Peace and Cypresses” (2004); and “The Crossed-Out Swastika” (2012). He has also received two Pushcart Prizes, the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poet Award and the Lannan Literary Award.
Cassells’ latest project, a bilingual book of his translations of Catalan poet Francesc Parcerisas, “Still Life with Children,” was recently published by Stephen F. Austin University Press.
