Gregory Orr (poet)
Encyclopedia
Gregory Orr is an American
poet
. He received a B.A. degree from Antioch College
and an M.F.A. from Columbia University
. He is a professor of English at the University of Virginia
where he founded the MFA Program in Writing in 1975, and served from 1978 to 2003 as Poetry Editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also a columnist and editor of the magazine, Sacred Bearings: A Journal for Survivors. He lives with his wife, the painter Trisha Orr, and their two daughters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Featured on National Public Radio’s This I Believe, Orr has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Orr is the author of nine collections of poetry, including City of Salt (1995) which was a finalist for the LA Times Poetry Prize. He is also the author of a memoir, The Blessing (2002), which was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the fifty best non-fiction books of the year, and three books of essays.
In reviewing Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved , Ted Genoways writes in the Virginia Quarterly Review: “Sure, the trappings of modern life appear at the edges of these poems, but their focus is so unwaveringly aimed toward the transcendent—not God, but the beloved—that we seem to slip into a less cluttered time. It’s an experience usually reserved for reading the ancients, and clearly that was partly Orr’s inspiration.” In reviewing How Beautiful the Beloved in Bookslut, Sean Patrick Hill writes that Orr’s “poems themselves are as Frost said they must be: momentary stays against confusion.”
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He received a B.A. degree from Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
and an M.F.A. from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He is a professor of English at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
where he founded the MFA Program in Writing in 1975, and served from 1978 to 2003 as Poetry Editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also a columnist and editor of the magazine, Sacred Bearings: A Journal for Survivors. He lives with his wife, the painter Trisha Orr, and their two daughters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Featured on National Public Radio’s This I Believe, Orr has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Orr is the author of nine collections of poetry, including City of Salt (1995) which was a finalist for the LA Times Poetry Prize. He is also the author of a memoir, The Blessing (2002), which was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the fifty best non-fiction books of the year, and three books of essays.
In reviewing Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved , Ted Genoways writes in the Virginia Quarterly Review: “Sure, the trappings of modern life appear at the edges of these poems, but their focus is so unwaveringly aimed toward the transcendent—not God, but the beloved—that we seem to slip into a less cluttered time. It’s an experience usually reserved for reading the ancients, and clearly that was partly Orr’s inspiration.” In reviewing How Beautiful the Beloved in Bookslut, Sean Patrick Hill writes that Orr’s “poems themselves are as Frost said they must be: momentary stays against confusion.”
Poetry
- ’’Burning the Empty Nests’’ (Harper & Row, 1973)
- ’’The Red House’’ (Harper & Row, 1975)
- ’’We Must Make a Kingdom of It’’ (Wesleyan University Press, 1986)
- ’’New and Selected Poems’’ (Wesleyan University Press, 1988)
- ’’City of Salt’’ (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995)
- ’’Orpheus & Eurydice’’ (Copper Canyon PressCopper Canyon PressCopper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
, 2001) - ’’The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems’’ (Copper Canyon Press, 2002)
- ’’Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved’’ (Copper Canyon Press, 2005)
- ’’How Beautiful the Beloved’’ (Copper Canyon Press, 2009)
Criticism
- ’’Stanley Kunitz: An Introduction to Poetry’’ (Columbia University Press, 1985)
- ’’Richer Entanglements: Essays and Notes on Poetry and Poems’’ (University of Michigan Press, 1993)
- ’’Poets Teaching Poets: Self and the World’’ (University of Michigan Press, 1996) (edited by Voigt and Orr)
- ’’Poetry as Survival’’ (University of Georgia Press, 2002)