Christopher Merrill (born February 24, 1957) is an American poet, essayist, journalist and translator. Currently, he serves as director of the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a 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 into 12 col ...

. He led the initiative that resulted in the selection of Iowa City as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

City of Literature, a part of the

Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Life and career

Christopher Merrill was born in western Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey. He did his undergraduate work at Middlebury College and his graduate degree at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. He has published six collections of poetry, including ''Watch Fire'', for which he received the Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

. He has also published translations, several edited volumes, and six books of nonfiction. His work has been translated into nearly 40 languages, and his journalism appears in many publications. For 10 years he was the book critic for the daily radio news program

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. Merrill's honors include a

Chevalier Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

from the French government in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He held the William H. Jenks Chair in Contemporary Letters at the College of the Holy Cross before becoming the director of the

at the

in 2000.

Works

Poetry

* ''Workbook'' (1988) * ''Fevers & Tides'' (1989) * ''Watch Fire'' (1995) * ''Brilliant Water'' (2001) * ''Seven Poets, Four Days, One Book'' (2009) * ''Boat'' (2013) * ''Necessities'' (2013) * ''After the Fact: Scripts & Postscripts'' (2016) - in collaboration with Marvin Bell

Nonfiction

* ''The Grass of Another Country: A Journey Through the World of Soccer'' (1994) * ''The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee'' (1995) * ''Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars'' (2001) * ''Journey to the Holy Mountain: Meditations on Mount Athos'' (2004) - also published as ''Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain'' (2005) * ''Cultural Diplomacy: The Linchpin of Public Diplomacy'' (2005) - Report of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State * ''The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expediation, War'' (2011) * ''Self-Portrait with Dogwood'' (2017)

Translation

* ''Anxious Moments'' by Aleš Debeljak (White Pine Press, 1995 * ''The Four Questions of Melancholy: New and Selected Poems of Tomaž Šalamun'' by

Tomaž Šalamun Tomaž Šalamun (July 4, 1941 – December 27, 2014) was a Slovenian poet who was a leading figure of postwar neo-avant-garde poetry in Central EuropeColm Tóibín (2004The comet's trail Guardian and an internationally acclaimed absurdist. Martín ...

(

White Pine Press White Pine Press is an American, nonprofit, literary press located in Buffalo, New York, publishing poetry, fiction, essays, and world literature in translation. The press was founded by poet, translator, editor and publisher Dennis Maloney in 1 ...

, 2007) * ''The City and the Child: Poems'' poems by Aleš Debeljak (1999) * ''Because of the Rain: A Selection of Korean Zen Poems'' (2006) * ''Even Birds Leave the World: Selected Poems of Ji-woo Hwang'' by Hwang Ji-u (2006) * ''Scale and Stairs: Selected Poems of Heeduk Ra'' by Na Huideok (2009) * ''Translucency: Selected Poems of Chankyung Sung'' by Seong Changyeong (2010) - with Kim Won-Chung * ''The Growth of a Shadow: Selected Poems of Taejoon Moon'' by

Mun Tae-jun Mun Tae-jun (, born 1970) is a South Korean poet. Career Mun Tae-jun has published several poetry collections since his prize-winning debut in 1994, and the great artistic potential of his works have gained the attention of many literary artists ...

(2012) - with Kim Won-Chung * ''The Night of the Cat’s Return'' by

Song Chanho Song Chanho (, born 1959) is a South Korean poet. Life Song Chanho was born in Boeun County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea in 1959. He studied German language and literature at Kyungpook National University. His writing career began i ...

(2015) - with Kim Won-Chung * ''If My Tongue Refuses to Remain in My Mouth'' by

Kim Seonu Kim Seonu (, born 1970) is a South Korean feminist poet. Life Kim Seonu was born in 1970 in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, South Korea, and is considered part of the new "feminist" wave of Korean poetry. Kim is also known internationally, havin ...

(2018) - with Kim Won-Chung

Collections and anthologies

* * *''What Will Suffice: Contemporary American Poets on the Art of Poetry From the Faraway Nearby: Georgia O'Keeffe as Icon'' (editor) (1995) *''The Way to the Salt Marsh: A John Hay Reader'' (editor) (1998) * * *''The New Symposium: Poets and Writers on What We Hold in Common'', edited with Natasa Durovicova. 2012. *''Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World'', edited with Robert Shapard and James Thomas. 2015. *''The Same Gate: A Collection of Writings in the Spirit of Rumi'', edited with Natasa Durovicova. 2018.

Translated works

* ''Christopher Merrill: Sajak sajak (Poems)'' - translated into Malay (2006) * ''Why the Grass Whispered Again: Selected Poems'' - translated into Arabic (2007) * ''Christopher Merrill: Notwendigkeiten'' (Necessities). Gedichte. translated into German. edition pen (No. 20) Löcker Verlag, Wien 2014, ISBN 978-3-85409-736-5.

Awards, fellowships, and prizes

* Chevalier d
l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
French Ministry of Culture and Communications (2006)

References

External links

Christopher Merrill Web site

Interview, Urhalpool magazine, April 2009

''Cultural Diplomacy: The Linchpin of Public Diplomacy'', Report of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Christopher 1957 births Living people American male poets Middlebury College alumni University of Washington alumni International Writing Program alumni