Frank Xavier Gaspar 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 ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and professor of Portuguese descent. A number of his books treat Portuguese-American themes or settings, particularly the Portuguese community in

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

. His most recent novel is ''The Poems of Renata Ferreira'' (Tagus Press (January 16, 2020)). His most recent collection of poems is ''Late Rapturous'' ( Autumn House Press, July, 2012). His fourth collection of poetry, ''Night of a Thousand Blossoms'' (

Alice James Books Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine. History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: ...

, 2004) was one of 12 books honored as the "Best Poetry of 2004" by ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

''. Gaspar's books have won many awards. His first collection of poetry, ''The Holyoke,'' won the 1988 Morse Poetry Prize (selected by

Mary Oliver Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and the National Book Award in 1992. She found inspiration for her work in nature and had a lifelong habit of solitary walks in th ...

); ''Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death '' won the 1994 Anhinga Prize for Poetry (selected by Joy Harjo); ''A Field Guide to the Heavens'' won the 1999 Brittingham Prize in Poetry (selected by

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

; his novel, ''Leaving Pico,'' won the California Book Award For First Fiction, and the Barnes & Noble Discovery Award., and Stealing Fatima was a Massbook of the year in fiction (

Massachusetts Center for the Book The Massachusetts Center for the Book is Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean an ...

). He has published poems in numerous journals and magazines, including ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

,'' ''

Harvard Review ''Harvard Review'' is a biannual literary journal published by Houghton Library at Harvard University. History In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, founded a quarterly periodical called ''Erato ...

,'' ''

The American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...

,'' ''Kenyon Review'' ''

The Hudson Review ''The Hudson Review'' is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. History It was founded in 1947 in New York, by William Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of ...

,'' ''

The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Ficti ...

,'' ''Ploughshares,'' ''Prairie Schooner,'' ''Mid-American Review,'' and ''Gettysburg Review.'' His poetry has been anthologized in ''Best American Poetry'' 1996 and 2000. He has won fellowships 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 feder ...

and The California Arts Commission, and received three

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

s. Born in

Provincetown Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pr ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in 1966 Gaspar joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and served for years, including two tours on the aircraft carrier

USS Hornet (CV-12) USS ''Hornet'' (CV/CVA/CVS-12) is an ''Essex''-class aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy (USN) during World War II. Completed in late 1943, the ship was assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force (variously designated as Task Force ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and the recovery of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

space module. He earned a

Master 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 admi ...

(MFA) from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. During fall semester of 2010, he taught in the Department of English at the

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

as the Endowed Chair Professor in Portuguese Studies. He has been professor of English and creative writing at

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California, United States. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus (LAC) in Lakewood Village and the Trades, Technology, an ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and has taught in the Graduate Writing Program at

Antioch University Los Angeles Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA) is a campus of Antioch University in Culver City, California. Background Antioch College was founded in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Horace Mann, Antioch College's first president's goal was to create an educatio ...

. Currently, he teaches in the MFA Writing Program at

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

, Oregon.

Published works

Poetry Collections * ''Late Rapturous '' (Autumn House Press, July 1, 2012) * ''Night of a Thousand Blossoms '' (Farmington: Alice James Books, 2004) * ''A Field Guide to the Heavens'' (Madison:

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...

, 1999) * ''Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death'' (Tallahassee: Anhinga Press, 1995) * ''The Holyoke'' (Boston:

Northeastern University Press The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...

, 1988) Novels * ''The Poems of Renata Ferreira '' (Tagus Press, January, 2020) * ''Stealing Fatima'' (Counterpoint, December, 2009) (see Counterpoint LLC) * ''Leaving Pico '' (Hanover:

University Press of New England The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...

, 1999)Library of Congress Online Catalog > Frank X. Gaspar Search
/ref>

References

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2002. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000138095

External links

Interview: ''Portuguese American Journal'' > December 2012 > ''Frank X. Gaspar a much-beloved writer - Interview''

Interview: ''Connotation Press'' > Issue IV, Volume II > January 2010 > ''Frank X. Gaspar - Interview''
*

* ttp://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16692 Poem: Academy of American Poets > ''The One God Is Mysterious'' by Frank Gasparbr>Poem: The New Yorker > January 11, 2016 Issue > Quahogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspar, Frank X. 1946 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets American male novelists American male poets American people of Portuguese descent Long Beach City College faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows The New Yorker people Novelists from Massachusetts People from Provincetown, Massachusetts Portuguese-language American writers United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War United States Navy sailors University of California, Irvine alumni University of Massachusetts Dartmouth faculty Writers from California