Heather Derr-Smith is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 poet. She was born in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 in 1971 and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles, California. [1] Her family then moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia where she spent her middle and high school years. She studied at the University of Virginia, earning a B.A. in Art History. At UVA she also took poetry workshops with Gregory Orr

Gregory Orr

Gregory Orr is an American writer and director of documentary and fiction films. He is the son of the late actress Joy Page and the late TV producer William T. Orr.-Career:...

, Charles Wright

Charles Wright (poet)

Charles Wright is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award (19830 for...

 and Rita Dove

Rita Dove

Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. From 1993-1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now popularly known as "U.S. Poet Laureate"...

. [2]

She went on to earn her MFA in Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop

Iowa Writers' Workshop

The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...

 where she studied with Marvin Bell

Marvin Bell

Marvin Bell is an American poet and teacher who was the first Poet Laureate of the State of Iowa.Bell was born in New York City and raised in Center Moriches, Long Island...

, Jorie Graham

Jorie Graham

Jorie Graham is an American poet. The U.S. Poetry Foundation suggests "She is perhaps the most celebrated poet of the American post-war generation". She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor at Harvard, becoming the first woman to be appointed to this position...

, Jim Galvin

James Galvin (poet)

James Galvin is an American poet. He has published six collections of poetry, most recently As Is , "X: Poems," and Resurrection Update, Collected Poems, 1975-1997 which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and the Poet’s Prize...

, and Mark Doty

Mark Doty

Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...

. [3]. Her first book, "Each End of the World" was published by Main Street Rag Press in 2005. The book was called "Astonishing" and "a devastating performance" by Mark Doty. The poems are about the 1991-1996 wars in the former Yugoslavia (Yugoslav Wars

Yugoslav wars

The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...

), where Derr-Smith volunteered in a refugee camp in Gasinci, Croatia in the summer of 1994. [4]

Derr-Smith's second collection of poems, "The Bride Minaret" was published at the University of Akron Press

University of Akron Press

The University of Akron Press is a non-profit university press that is a part of the University of Akron. Founded in 1988, the Press is currently directed by Thomas Bacher and is a member of Association of American University Presses....

. It was selected by Elton Glaser

Elton Glaser

-Life:He is a native of New Orleans, teaches at the University of Akron, and edits the Akron Series in Poetry.He lives in Akron, Ohio.-Awards:* 2002 Marlboro Prize in Poetry for his poem, "Meditation in Blue and White"* 2002 Crab Orchard Award-Works:* *...

 for the Akron Series in Poetry in 2008. It was edited by Mary Biddinger

Mary Biddinger

Mary Biddinger is an American poet, editor, and academic.Mary Biddinger is the author of the poetry collection Prairie Fever...

. The poems are about personal and global issues of exile and identity. There is also a strong sense of place and connection to the natural environment.

Derr-Smith's poems deal with urban-ecological subject matter. Her most recent poems have a strong connection to the land and the natural environment. Many of the poems also wrestle with issues of spirituality, religion and suffering. Derr-Smith has described her religious upbringing in several interviews and often writes about her Baptist and Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

 heritage. She is also influenced by the Sufi poets in Islam. [6] Derr-Smith also explores issues of sexuality and identity, GLBT issues, and Feminism in connection with ecology. [7]

Derr-Smith has received numerous awards and grants, including grants from Iowa State University, the Iowa Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her poems have also appeared in such literary magazines and journals as Fence, Crazy Horse, Phoebe, and Margie. Derr-Smith was the 2009 Visiting Poet at Iowa State University in the Creative Writing and the Environment MFA Program. She also teaches Poetry at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. She was a Visiting Poet at the International University of Sarajevo in December 2009. [8] [9]