Randall Kenan  Randall Kenan is an American author who was born March 12, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. At only six weeks old, Kenan moved to Duplin County, a small rural community in North Carolina, where he lived with his grandparents in a small town named Wallace. The setting of many of Kenan's novels are centered around his homeland of North Carolina. The focus of much of Kenan's work centers around on what it means to be black and gay in the southern United States. Some of Kenan's most notable works include the collection of short stories "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead", named a New York Times Notable Book in 1992, "A Visitation of Spirits," and "The Fire This Time". Kenan is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award and the John Dos Passos Prize. Randall Kenan was born in Brooklyn, New York, but at only six weeks old he moved to a small town named Wallace where he lived with his grandparents. Kenan's grandparents ran a dry-cleaning business, and most of the time they were too busy to take care of Kenan themselves, so they hired someone to take care of him. On the weekends, Kenan's great-aunt Mary and great-uncle Redden would take him to their family farm which was located in Chinquapin, only about 15 miles east of Wallace. At three years old Kenan's great-uncle Redden died unexpectedly, and Kenan's grandfather suggested to his great-aunt Mary that she keep Kenan because she was alone. Kenan recalls the conversation and after that he remained with his great-aunt Mary for the remainder of his adolescent years. Kenan's great-aunt Mary, who he eventually called 'mama,' became a mentor for Kenan, and she taught him how to read at the age of four years old. Mary was a kindergarten teacher so she heavily supported education and began Kenan's education at a young age. He grew up loving to read everything ranging from novels to comic books to the Bible, and he eventually developed a love for storytelling. Kenan attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, beginning in the fall of 1981 and he graduated in 1985 with degrees in English and Creative Writing. In his freshman year of college Kenan was pursuing a physics degree, but found himself confused on what to pursue because he was not enjoying his classes. He then decided to enroll in a writing class lead by Max Steele, who is an editor for "The Paris Review".