Michael Collier (poet)
Encyclopedia
Michael Robert Collier is an American poet, teacher, creative writing program administrator and editor. He has published five books of original poetry, a translation of Euripedes' Medea
, a book of prose pieces about poetry, and has edited three anthologies of poetry. From 2001 to 2004 he was the Poet Laureate of Maryland. As of 2011, he is the director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
, a professor of creative writing at the University of Maryland, College Park
and the poetry editorial consultant for Houghton Mifflin
(now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
. He attended the Santa Clara University
for one year, then transferred to Connecticut College
in 1973 to study with the Pulitzer prize-winning poet William Morris Meredith, Jr.
In 1977, he moved to London
on a Thomas Watson fellowship and worked with editor William Cookson
on the British literary magazine Agenda. After graduating cum laude from Connecticut College in 1976, and receiving his M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona
in 1979, he was a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center
in Provincetown, Massachusetts
, from 1979 to 1980. He moved to the Washington, D.C.
, area in 1981, where he began teaching part-time at George Mason University
, Trinity College
and the University of Maryland, College Park
. From 1983 to 1984, he was the coordinator of public relations and the poetry program at the Folger Shakespeare Library
. In 1984, he was appointed full-time to the English faculty at the University of Maryland. In the summer of 1981, he attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference for the first time as the Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Poetry, followed by stints as a fellow in 1986, and as associate faculty in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, the trustees of Middlebury College
appointed him Director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Founded in 1926, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is the longest-running writers' conference in the United States. In 2002, Houghton-Mifflin Publishers appointed Collier as its editorial consultant for poetry. He has edited books by the American poets Michael Ryan
, Spencer Reece
, and Alan Shapiro
and the British poet Glyn Maxwell
, as well as the books Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize
and Space Walk by Tom Sleigh
, which won the 2008 $100,000 Kingsley Tufts award from Claremont Graduate University. From 2001 to 2004, Collier served as the Maryland state poet laureate.
He is married and has two sons.
" and continued by saying that other "early influences included Anthony Hecht
and early Robert Lowell
…and W.H. Auden, Philip Larkin
." He added "I strongly identify with Philip Larkin, Thomas Hardy
, Randall Jarrell
, and George Herbert
."
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
, a book of prose pieces about poetry, and has edited three anthologies of poetry. From 2001 to 2004 he was the Poet Laureate of Maryland. As of 2011, he is the director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is a writers' conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont...
, a professor of creative writing at the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and the poetry editorial consultant for Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
(now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Life
Michael Collier was born in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. He attended the Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
for one year, then transferred to Connecticut College
Connecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
in 1973 to study with the Pulitzer prize-winning poet William Morris Meredith, Jr.
William Morris Meredith, Jr.
William Morris Meredith, Jr. was an American poet and educator. He was Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1978 to 1980.-Early years:...
In 1977, he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on a Thomas Watson fellowship and worked with editor William Cookson
William Cookson
William Cookson was a British poet, writer on poetry and literary editor, best-known for his influential poetry magazine Agenda....
on the British literary magazine Agenda. After graduating cum laude from Connecticut College in 1976, and receiving his M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
in 1979, he was a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center
Fine Arts Work Center
The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoration of the year-round vitality of the historic art...
in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
, from 1979 to 1980. He moved to the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, area in 1981, where he began teaching part-time at George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, Trinity College
Trinity Washington University
Trinity Washington University, founded in 1897 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is a Roman Catholic university located in Washington, D.C. across from Catholic University of America and the Dominican House of Studies...
and the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. From 1983 to 1984, he was the coordinator of public relations and the poetry program at the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
. In 1984, he was appointed full-time to the English faculty at the University of Maryland. In the summer of 1981, he attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference for the first time as the Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Poetry, followed by stints as a fellow in 1986, and as associate faculty in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, the trustees of Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
appointed him Director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Founded in 1926, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is the longest-running writers' conference in the United States. In 2002, Houghton-Mifflin Publishers appointed Collier as its editorial consultant for poetry. He has edited books by the American poets Michael Ryan
Michael Ryan
- Sports :* Mike Ryan , former New Zealand marathon and long-distance runner* Michael Ryan , America baseball outfielder* Mike Ryan , former Major League Baseball player...
, Spencer Reece
Spencer Reece
Spencer Reece is a poet who lives not in Juno Beach, Florida. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, he received a M.A. from the University of York , and a M.T.S. from the Harvard Divinity School...
, and Alan Shapiro
Alan Shapiro
Alan Shapiro is an American poet and professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of nine poetry books, including Tantalus in Love, Song and Dance, and The Dead Alive and Busy. He received the Kingsley Tufts Award and the Los Angeles...
and the British poet Glyn Maxwell
Glyn Maxwell
Glyn Maxwell is a British poet.-Early life:Though his parents are Welsh, Maxwell was born and raised in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. He studied English at Worcester College, Oxford. He began an MLitt there, but in 1987 moved to America to study poetry and drama with Derek Walcott at...
, as well as the books Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey is an American poet who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 2006 collection, Native Guard.Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. She earned the A.B. in English from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in poetry from Hollins University, and an M.F.A. in poetry from...
which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
and Space Walk by Tom Sleigh
Tom Sleigh
Tom Sleigh is an American poet, dramatist, essayist and academic, who currently lives in New York City. He has published seven books of original poetry, one full-length translation of Euripides' Herakles and a book of essays. At least five of his plays have been produced...
, which won the 2008 $100,000 Kingsley Tufts award from Claremont Graduate University. From 2001 to 2004, Collier served as the Maryland state poet laureate.
He is married and has two sons.
Work and artistic influences
In a 2005 interview, Collier stated that he has "always been drawn to more formal poets like Robert FrostRobert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
" and continued by saying that other "early influences included Anthony Hecht
Anthony Hecht
Anthony Evan Hecht was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, and the Holocaust being recurrent themes in his work.-Early years:Hecht was born in New York...
and early Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
…and W.H. Auden, Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...
." He added "I strongly identify with Philip Larkin, Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, Randall Jarrell
Randall Jarrell
Randall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...
, and George Herbert
George Herbert
George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
."
Poetic works
- Dark Wild Realm, Houghton Mifflin, 2006. (Paperback edition, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin, October 2007 ISBN 9780618919918) ISBN 9780618582228
- The Ledge, Houghton Mifflin, 2000. (Paperback edition, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin, April 2002 ISBN 9780618219100) ISBN 9780618050147
- The Neighbor, University of Chicago Press, 1995; 2nd printing 1996; 3rd printing, 1999. ISBN 9780226113586
- The Folded Heart, Wesleyan University Press, 1989. ISBN 9780819511713
- The Clasp and Other Poems, Wesleyan University Press, 1986 (Second printing, 1987).
Edited books
- A William Maxwell Portrait: Appreciations and Memories, edited with Charles Baxter and Edward HirschEdward HirschEdward Hirsch is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published eight books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems , which brings together thirty-five years of work. He is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial...
, W.W. Norton, Inc. (W.W. Norton, 2004). ISBN 9780393057713 - The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology, ed. Michael Collier, University Press of New England, 2000.
- The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, eds. Michael Collier and Stanley Plumly, University Press of New England, 1999; second printing, 2000.
- The Wesleyan Tradition: Four Decades of American Poetry, Wesleyan University Press, 1993 (Second printing, 1995).
Prose and translation
- Make Us Wave Back: Essays on Poetry and Influence, University of Michigan Press, 2007. ISBN 9780472099474
- Medea, translated by Michael Collier. Introduction and notes by Georgia Machemer. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195145663
Awards
- Finalist, National Book Critics CircleNational Book Critics CircleThe National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
Award in Poetry, 2001 for The Ledge. - Finalist, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Prize for Poetry, 2001 for The Ledge. - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial FoundationJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial FoundationThe John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
Fellowship, 1995 - National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Creative Writing Fellowship, 1994 and 1984. - National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, 1984.
- "Discovery" The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
Award, 1981. - Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Poetry, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 1981.
- Writing Fellow, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, 1979-80.
- Thomas Watson Traveling Fellowship, 1976
External links
- "A Weekly Poem, Read By the Author". Collier, Michael. "The Lift." Slate. April 1, 2003.
- "A Weekly Poem, Read By the Author". Collier, Michael. "Shelley's Guitar." Slate, May 20, 2003.
- "A Weekly Poem, Read by The Author". Collier, Michael. "Brave Sparrow." Slate. October 2, 1997.
- "A Weekly Poem, Read by The Author". Collier, Michael. "The Swimmer." Slate. August 13, 1998.
- "A Conversation with Michael Collier [audiorecording]". Blackbird Archive: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts. Fall 2007, Vol. 6, no. 2.
- "Interview with Michael Collier, poet and director of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference". write the book #19, michael collier/bread loaf (8/9/08)