Craig Arnold (November 16, 1967 – April 27, 2009) was an American poet and professor. His first book of poems, ''Shells'' (1999), was selected by W. S. Merwin for the

Yale Series of Younger Poets The Yale Series of Younger Poets is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the debut collection of a promising American poet. Established in 1918, the Younger Poets Prize is the longest-running annual literary award in the Uni ...

. His many honors include the 2005 Joseph Brodsky

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

Fellowship in literature, The Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Fellowship, an Alfred Hodder Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellowship, and a MacDowell Fellowship.Wayweiser Press The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize 2006 Two Poems from Craig Arnold's ''Made Flesh'' Followed by a Note on the Author

Biography

Arnold taught poetry at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. His poems have appeared in anthologies including ''

The Best American Poetry 1998 ''The Best American Poetry 1998'', a volume in ''The Best American Poetry series'', was edited by David Lehman and by guest editor John Hollander John Hollander (October 28, 1929 – August 17, 2013) was an American poet and literary critic. At ...

'' and ''The Bread Loaf Anthology of New American Poets,'' and in literary journals including ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

Denver Quarterly The ''Denver Quarterly'' (known as ''The University of Denver Quarterly'' until 1970) is a literary magazine based at the University of Denver. It was founded in 1966 by novelist John Edward Williams. Publisher The magazine is published by the ...

, Barrow Street, New Republic'' and ''

Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on ...

.'' Arnold grew up in the United States, Europe and Asia. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1990 and his Ph.D. degree in creative writing from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 2001. He was also a musician, and performed as a member of the band Iris.

Disappearance

On April 27, 2009, Arnold went missing on the small volcanic island of

Kuchinoerabujima , is one of the Satsunan Islands, usually classed with the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 147. The island can only be reached by boat as it has no airport. There is regular ferry ...

, Japan. He went for a solo hike to explore an active volcano on the island and never returned to the inn where he was staying. While Japanese law mandates government-backed searches for three days, on April 30, 2009, the Japanese government agreed to extend the search an additional three days. Arnold was not found, and the search was then picked up by the international non-governmental organization 1st Special Response Group. Arnold's trail was found near a high cliff, and he was presumed to have died from a fall near the date of his disappearance. A collection of poetry, ''Love, an Index'', written by Arnold's partner Rebecca Lindenberg and telling the story of their relationship, was published in March 2012. A detailed account of Arnold's last few days and the extensive search, entitled ''An Exchange for Fire'', was written by Christopher Blasdel and appeared in the anthology ''My Postwar Life: New Writings from Japan and Okinawa,'' published by Chicago Quarterly Review Books, January, 2012.

Bibliography

; Collections * Arnold, Craig. 1999. ''Shells''. Yale series of younger poets, v. 93. New Haven: Yale University Press, * Arnold, Craig. 2008. ''Made Flesh''. Keene, NY: Ausable Press. ; Translations * ''fleischgeworden'' (selected poems, translated into German by Jan Volker Röhnert, luxbooks, 2008)

Awards and honors

* 2009 — US-Japan Creative Artists Program * 2008 —

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

* 2005 —

in Literature,

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

* 2001 — Alfred Hodder Fellowship in the Humanities,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

* 2001 — Dobie Paisano Fellow * 1999 — John Atherton Fellowship in Poetry from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference * 1999 — Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award * 1998 —

Creative Writing Fellowship * 1998 — Utah Arts Council Original Writing Award for a book in poetry * 1998 —

Creative Writing Fellowship * 1996 —

Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship The Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship is given annually to a U.S.-born poet to spend one year outside North America in a country the recipient feels will most advance his or her work. When poet Amy Lowell died in 1925, her will established ...

References

External links