معرفی
Kinohi Nishikawa is an Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Department of African American Studies and the Department of English at Princeton University. His scholarly work bridges literary criticism, book history, and African American cultural studies, with a strong emphasis on the material forms of literature.
- A.B., Dartmouth College (summa cum laude, High Honors in English)
- M.A., Literature, Duke University
- Ph.D., Literature, Duke University
His research focuses on 20th- and 21st-century African American literature, particularly the roles of book design, publishing practices, and paratextual elements in shaping literary reception. He explores how print culture, independent presses, and visual aesthetics contribute to Black literary expression and archival formation. His work intersects with Black aesthetic theory, humor, and popular culture.
His recent publications reveal a consistent thematic thread: the materiality of African American texts. Across journals like PMLA, American Literary History, and Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, he investigates how design, format, and publishing context influence meaning-making in works by authors such as Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ishmael Reed, and Percival Everett.
Nishikawa is actively involved in public scholarship, curating the Black Independent Film series at the Princeton Garden Theatre and advising on the Sites of Memory exhibition of the Toni Morrison Papers. He is co-authoring a book with Professor Autumn Womack on Morrison’s archiving practices.
- Curator, Black Independent Film series, Princeton Garden Theatre
- Advisor, Sites of Memory exhibition, Toni Morrison Papers
- Collaborator on Morrison archiving project with Autumn Womack
