Peter Cooley (born November 19, 1940) is an American poet and Professor of English in the Department of English at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. He also directs Tulane's Creative Writing Program. Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, he holds degrees from

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...

, the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He is the father of poet Nicole Cooley.

Career

Prior to joining Tulane, Cooley taught at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. He was the

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in 1981.

Poetry and awards

Cooley has published several books of poetry with the

Carnegie Mellon University Press Carnegie Mellon University Press is a publisher that is part of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The press specializes in literary publishing, in particular, poetry. The press is cur ...

. He received the Inspirational Professor Award in 2001 and the Newcomb Professor of the Year Award in 2003. On August 14, 2015 he was named Louisiana's poet laureate.

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * *''The Room Where Summer Ends'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1979) *''Nightseasons'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1983) *''The Van Gogh Notebook'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1987) *''The Astonished Hours'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1992) *''Sacred Conversations'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1998) *''A Place Made of Starlight'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2003) *''Divine Margins'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2009) *''Night Bus to the Afterlife'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2014) *''World Without Finishing'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2018) *''The One Certain Thing'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2021) ;List of poems

References

External links

Peter Cooley listing in ''The Literary Encyclopedia''

Peter Cooley’s faculty page
Tulane University *
Peter Cooley author page at ''Virginia Quarterly Review'', with links to poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Peter 1940 births Living people American male poets Poets laureate of Louisiana Shimer College alumni The New Yorker people Tulane University faculty Writers from Detroit