Kerry Shawn Keys (Lietuva / JAV)

Kerry Shawn Keys (b. 1946) is an American poet living in Vilnius. The roots of Keys’s work can be found in the Appalachian Mountains, India, Brazil, and Lithuania. He is a former Fulbright Scholar for studies in Africa and Brazil, and a member of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union and PEN Club. From 1998 to 2000, he was a Fulbright Professional Scholar teaching translation theory at Vilnius University. In 2005, he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Keys has been appointed World Poetry Ambassador of the Republic of Užupis.

His works cover a wide range—from pastoral poetry, poetry of ‘urban ruins,’ flamenco rhythms, children's books, Eastern meditations, and polyphonic poems. His most recent books: Shoelaces for Chagall, Selected Love Poems (in English and German), 2021; Seasons At The Patch, 2023 – the Druskininkai Poetic Fall published a book in Lithuanian in 2026 under the title Metlaikiai Šunkaimy.

In 2025, the author was awarded the Vilnius Mayor’s Prize for the bilingual poetry collection Alphabet of Dreams (compiled and translated to Lithuanian by Dominykas Norkūnas) . .

Photo by Laura Vansevičienė