Terrance Hayes, born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1971, is the author of seven poetry collections, including “So to Speak” (Penguin Books 2023), “American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin” (Penguin Books 2018) and “Lighthead” (Penguin Books 2010), winner of the 2010 National Book Award for poetry. As a critic, he published “Watch Your Language: Visual and Literary Reflections on a Century of American Poetry” (Penguin Books 2023). Hayes has received fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and Whiting Foundation, and is a professor of English at New York University.