Jim Simmerman in 2004. Photo by James Jay. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Jim Simmerman (March 5, 1952 - June 29, 2006) was an American poet and academic.
Life[]
Simmerman was born in Boulder, Colorado, in 1952. He received a M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa in 1980.
He was regents professor of English at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he led poetry writing workshops and served as an advisor to the literary magazine Thin Air.[1]
His poems have appeared widely in journals (Antæus, Georgia Review, North American Review, Ploughshares,[2] Poetry), anthologies (The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, The Poetry Anthology, 1912-2002, Pushcart Prize X: Best of the small presses), and textbooks (Literature: Reading, reacting, writing; Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem: A guide to writing poetry; Western Wind: An introduction to poetry); and his poetry writing exercise "Twenty Little Poetry Projects" generated the anthology Mischief, Caprice, & Other Poetic Strategies (Red Hen Press, 2004), edited by Terry Wolverton.
He took his own life on June 29, 2006 in Flagstaff, Arizona after a long illness.
Recognition[]
Simmerman was the recipient of fellowships from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Port Townsend Writers' Conference, the Fine Arts Work Center, the Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, and the NEA.
His debut poetry collection, Home (1983), was chosen by Raymond Carver as a Pushcart Prize "Writer's Choice" Selection. His 1989 collection, Once Out of Nature, was a "Best of the Small Presses" feature at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The Jim Simmerman Poetry Prize (three prizes of $250, $150, and $100) is awarded annually to students of Flagstaff District High Schools.[3]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Home: Poems (chapbook). Port Townsend, WA: Dragon Gate, 1983.
- Bad Weather: Poems. Safford, AZ: Ocotillo Press, 1988.
- Once Out of Nature. Sparks, MD: Galileo Press, 1989.
- Yoyo Yoyo Yoyo: Jim Simmerman poems (chapbook). Maryville, MO: Greentower Press, 1994.
- Moon Go Away, I Don't Love You No More. Oxford, OH: Miami University Press, 1994.
- Kingdom Come. Oxford, OH: Miami University Press, 1999.
- American Children. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions (American Poets Continuum), 2005.
- 'Greatest Hits, 1976-2006. Johnstown, OH: Pudding House, 2006.
Edited[]
- Dog Music: Poetry about dogs (edited with Joseph Duemer). New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
2017 Viola Award Nominee Jim Simmerman
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ "Poet Jim Simmerman, Regents' Professor, dies at 54," Inside NAU 3:27 (July 6, 2006), Northern Arizona University. Web, Apr. 20, 2013.
- ↑ Jim Simmerman, Ploughshares. Web, Apr. 20, 2013.
- ↑ Simmerman Prize, Northern Arizona Book Festival. Web, Apr. 20, 2013.
- ↑ Search results = au:Jim Simmerman, WorlCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 16, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- "Jim Simmerman 1 poem ("The Eternal City") at the Academy of American Poets
- "Constellation" in the Melic Review.
- "Tell the Truth" at Poetserv.
- 2 poems in Poetry, September 1988
- Prose
- Twenty Little Poetry Projects: An exercise at AllPoetry
- Books
- Jim Simmerman at Amazon.com
- About
- Jim Simmerman at Ploughshares
- "Poet Jim Simmerman, Regents' Professor, dies at 54" at Northern Arizona University.
| This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia. (view article). (view authors). |
|