David Rivard (born 1953 in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount ...

) is an American poet. He is the author of seven books including ''Wise Poison'', winner the 1996

James Laughlin Award The James Laughlin Award, formerly the Lamont Poetry Prize, is given annually for a poet's second published book; it is the only major poetry award that honors a second book. The award is given by the Academy of American Poets, and is noted as one ...

, and ''Standoff'', winner the 2017

PEN New England Award The PEN New England Award (previously L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award and Laurence L. & Thomas Winship/PEN New England Award) is awarded annually by PEN New England (today PEN America Boston) to honor a New England author or book with a New Engl ...

in Poetry. He is also a Professor of English Creative Writing in the

Masters of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts adm ...

program at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

. His poems and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including ''New England Review'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Poetry'', and ''TriQuarterly''.

Early life

Rivard was born in

and grew up in a

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and po ...

family of

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and

dressmakers A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. N ...

. His father was a

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also a ...

and his great-grandfather is the first Portuguese

policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

in Fall River. He is the oldest of four. Rivard holds a B.A. from the

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts U ...

and an M.F.A. from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

. He studied under

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

Tess Gallagher Tess Gallagher (born 1943) is an American poet, essayist, and short story writer. Among her many honors were a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts award, Maxine Cushing Gray Foundation Award. Biography ...

, and

Steve Orlen Steve Orlen (January 13, 1942 – November 16, 2010) was an American poet and professor at the University of Arizona. He was visiting professor at the University of Houston, Goddard College, and Warren Wilson College. Orlen was a co-founder of the ...

. Among his classmates were

Tony Hoagland Anthony Dey Hoagland (November 19, 1953 – October 23, 2018) was an American poet. His poetry collection, ''What Narcissism Means to Me'' (2003), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His other honors included two grant ...

David Wojahn David Wojahn (born 1953, St. Paul, Minnesota) is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Ar ...

, and

Li-Young Lee Li-Young Lee (李立揚, pinyin: Lǐ Lìyáng) (born August 19, 1957) is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His maternal great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted t ...

Awards

* Two grants from the

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 federa ...

* Fellowship from the Massachusetts Arts Foundation * Fellowship the

Fine Arts Work Center The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoratio ...

in Provincetown * Celia B. Wagner Award from the

Poetry Society of America The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

* Pushcart Prize *

O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize The O.B. Hardison Jr. Poetry Prize was awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S. poet whose art and teaching demonstrated great imagination and daring.

* 1987

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major American literary award for a first full-length book of poetry in the English language. This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States was initiated by ...

* 1996

for his second collection of poems ''Wise Poison'' * 2001

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Works

* * * * * * *

''Ploughshares''

* * * * * * *

Books

* ''Some of You Will Know'', (Arrowsmith Press, 2022) * ''Standoff'', (Graywolf Press, 2016) * ''Otherwise Elsewhere'', (Graywolf Press, 2010) * ''Sugartown'', (Graywolf Press, 2006) * ''Bewitched Playground'', (Graywolf Press, 2000) * ''Wise Poison'', (Graywolf Press, 1996) * ''Torque'' (1987), which won the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize and was published by the

Pitt Poetry Series The ''Pitt Poetry Series'', published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry. History The Pitt Poetry Series was established in 1968 by p ...

Criticism

* * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivard, David 1953 births American male poets Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize winners Living people National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Tufts University faculty Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty University of New Hampshire faculty