Biography
Kenneth Beaudoin was born on December 12, 1913 in Elmira, Michigan. After graduating from Memphis State College in 1935, he attended several schools before starting to work. Beaudoin had many occupations; besides writing poetry, he operated an art gallery and published a magazine called Iconograph. In 1949, he moved back to Memphis, where he worked in the Special Investigations Bureau of the Memphis Police Department (Warren and McClaren) from 1950-1980; in 1953, he became the workshop director for the Poetry Society of Tennessee, an organization of which he was a founder. His work has been "widely published in England, Wales, France, West Germany, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia" (Warren and McClaren). Beadoin passed away on March 19, 1995 of complications from diabetes.
Beaudoin's works are considered to be in the Southern romantic tradition (Warren and McClaren). He is known for his invention and use of the EYE poem, "poetry with printed rather than conceived words against graphics in vrai collage" (Warren and McClaren). His papers are housed at the University of Memphis and Syracuse University.
Bibliography
Non-Fiction
Poetry
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