Ann Fisher-Wirth (born 25 January 1947) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and scholar, based at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. She has won several teaching awards, including Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year (2006), Humanities Teacher of the Year (2007), and the Elsie M. Hood Award (2014). Her poetry has received numerous awards, including several Pushcart nominations and a Pushcart Special Mention.

Early life

Fisher-Wirth is the daughter of a career Army officer and an English teacher. She was born in Washington, D. C., and lived as a child in Germany, Pennsylvania, and Japan before her father retired from the Army and her parents decided to move to Berkeley, California.

Education

She earned a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in English from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

in 1968; an M.A. degree in English and American literature from

Claremont Graduate School The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...

in 1972; and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from

in 1981.

Career

She has served as President of the international

Association for the Study of Literature and Environment The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), also known as ASLE-USA, is the principal professional association for American and international scholars of ecocriticism and environmental humanities. It was founded in 1992 at ...

(ASLE), has had a senior Fulbright to the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and has held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Uppsala University, Sweden. She has been teaching at the

since 1988.

Works

Her scholarly work has concentrated primarily on

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

and

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', ''The Song of the Lark (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...

, but she has published on other writers including

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

Louise Gluck Louise most commonly refers to: * Louise (given name) Louise or Luise may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Songs * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 * "Louise", by The Yardbirds from the album ''Five Live Yardbirds'', 1964 * "Louise ...

Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award Anita Brookner Anita Brookner (16 July 1928 – 10 March 2016) was an English novelist and art historian. She was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge from 1967 to 1968 and was the first woman to hold this visiting professorship. She ...

Selected works

*''The Bones of Winter Birds'', Terrapin Press (2019) *''Mississippi'', poems by Ann Fisher-Wirth and photographs by Maude Schuyler Clay, Wings Press (2018) *''First, earth'', The Chapbook (2015) *''The Ecopoetry Anthology'', coedited with

Laura-Gray Street Laura-Gray Street is an American poet. Life She graduated from Hollins University. She holds an M.A. from University of Virginia, and an M.F.A. from Warren Wilson College. She was assistant professor at Randolph College, and serves on the board ...

, Trinity University Press (2013) *''Dream Cabinet'', Wings Press (2012) *''Carta Marina'', Wings Press (2009) *''Slide Shows'', Finishing Line Press (2009) *''Five Terraces'', Wind Publications (2005) *''Walking Wu-Wei's Scroll'', Drunken Boat (2005) *''Blue Window'', Archer Books (2003) *''The Trinket Poems'', Wind Publications (2003) * ''William Carlos Williams and Autobiography: The Woods of His Own Nature'', Penn State University Press (1989)

Selected honors and awards

*The Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Mississippi (2014) *Finalist, Poet Laureate of Mississippi (2012) *University of Mississippi Humanities Teacher of the Year (2007) *University of Mississippi Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year (2006) *President, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (2006) *Literary Artist Fellowship for poetry from the Mississippi Arts Commission (2005) *Writing Residency, Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, Calif. (2005) *Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Award (2004) *Rita Dove Poetry Award from the Salem College Center for Women Writers (2004) *Malahat Review Long Poem Prize (2003) *Fulbright Distinguished Chair of American Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden (2003) *Literary Artist Fellowship for poetry from the Mississippi Arts Commission (1998) *Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (1994)

Personal life

She is married to Peter Wirth. Her daughter, Jessica Fisher, is also a poet.

References

External links

''Ann Fisher-Wirth''

'' University of Mississippi –M.F.A. English - Ann Fisher-Wirth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher-Wirth, Ann 1947 births Living people American women poets Pomona College alumni 21st-century American women