Jeffery Renard Allen

Jeffery Renard Allen (born 1962) is an American poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is best known for his novels ''Rails Under My Back'' (2000) and ''Song of the Shank'' (2014), the latter of which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Allen's work often explores African-American life and history through experimental language and innovative structure. Provided by Wikipedia