In a little over a decade, Young has searched, and found, his way to writing more than five critically acclaimed, ambitious, and lusciously readable books. His debut, Most Way Home(1995), was chosen by Lucille Clifton for the National Poetry Series. His third volume, Jelly Roll {A Blues} (2003), won the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His most recent book is For the Confederate Dead (2007). “Young turns cliché inside out,” Booklist declared, “in an ingenious celebration of improvisation in art and in life.”
In his spare time, Young collects poems as the editor of Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers (2000), John Berryman: Selected Poems (2003), and the Everyman Pocket series of Blues Poems (2003) and Jazz Poems (forthcoming).