Graham W. Foust (born August 25, 1970) is an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...

and currently is an associate professor at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

Early life and education

Foust was born in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and grew up in Eau Claire,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He has a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

from

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

, 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 ...

from

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

-Buffalo.

Academic

Foust teaches contemporary poetry in both an English literature and creative writing context. From 1998 to 2000, Foust, along with Benjamin Friedlander, co-edited ''Lagniappe'', an online journal devoted to poetry and poetics. From 2002 to 2005, Foust was a professor at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

; he is presently an associate professor at the University of Denver.

Poet

Foust has written six full collections of poetry; ''As in Every Deafness'' (Flood Editions, 2003), ''Leave the Room to Itself'' (Ahsahta Press, 2004), ''Necessary Stranger'' (Flood Editions, 2007), ''A Mouth in California'' (Flood Editions, 2009), ''To Anacreon In Heaven'' (Flood Editions, 2013), and "Time Down to Mind" (Flood Editions, 2015). He most recently published a collection of translations from German, in collaboration with Samuel Frederick, of Ernst Meister's later poems titled ''In Time's Rift m Zeitspalt', through

Wave Books Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. Books published by Wave have been finalists for and winners of the Pu ...

in September, 2012.

Reception

Three of Foust's poems were featured in the winter 2009 (volume 43, issue 1) edition of '' The Laurel Review'': ''The Only Poem'', ''Promotional'', and ''Frost at Midnight''. Foust's work was also chosen by Robert Creeley for the ''Beyond Arcadia'' issue of Conjunctions. David Pavelich believes Foust's poetry to be "a unique blend of whisper and raw humor, darkness and economy of thought".Profile by David Pavelich
chicagopostmodernpoetry.com Foust's third book, ''Necessary Stranger'', was described as "intense, hip, ironic and subtly humorous" in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', and in December 2007 reached third place on the small-press poetry best-seller list. His fourth book, ''A Mouth in California'', received a starred review in ''Publishers Weekly'', which noted that Foust had "achieved a wide reputation in and beyond experimental poetry circles for his clipped, breathless poems, often no longer than one or two haiku, but packing an intimate punch that belies their length." Foust has cited

Rae Armantrout Rae Armantrout (born April 13, 1947) is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published more than two dozen books, including both poetry and prose. Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Aw ...

as an influence; Armantrout pronounced herself "quite pleased" with that, saying she was "very fond of oust'swork", but considered Foust to have a distinctive style: "Foust's poems are minimalist, yes, more so than mine, in fact, but his sensibility is very much his own." A review of ''A Mouth in California'' in the ''

Oxonian Review ''The Oxonian Review'' is a literary magazine produced by postgraduate students at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight during term time, an online edition is published featuring reviews and essays on current affairs and literature, alongs ...

'' characterised Foust's work as "bleak, funny, curt, and self-effacing", informed by the understanding that "everyday speech, set slightly out of joint or context, can deliver both personal and collective revelation. ..Foust ..doesn’t take himself too seriously, yet he’s a seriously good poet. ..And best of all, Foust is subtle."

Bibliography

*''Nightingalelessness'' (Flood Editions, 2018) *''Time Down to Mind'' (Flood Editions, 2015) *''Of Entirety Say the Sentence'', poems by Ernst Meister'','' co-translated with Samuel Frederick (Wave Books, 2015) *''Wallless Space,'' poems by Ernst Meister, co-translated with Samuel Frederick (Wave Books, 2014) *''To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems'' (Flood Editions, 2013)
''In Time's Rift [Im Zeitspalt]''
poems by Ernst Meister, co-translated with Samuel Frederick (

, 2012) *''A Mouth In California'' (Flood Editions, 2009) *''Necessary Stranger'' (Flood Editions, 2007) *''As in Every Deafness'' (Flood Editions, 2003) *''Leave the Room to Itself'' (Ahsahta, 2003)

References

External links

Author Homepage
at

Graham Foust's Faculty Homepage
at St Mary's College of California * Graham Foust's poe
"Vicarious" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (24.1)

''Jacket'', July 2001

online journal archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Foust, Graham 1970 births Living people American male poets Beloit College alumni Drake University faculty George Mason University alumni Writers from Knoxville, Tennessee University at Buffalo alumni 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers