James Raymond Daniels (born 1956 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

) is an American poet and writer. He lives in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

with his wife, the writer Kristin Kovacic.

Life and work

Daniels was on the faculty of the creative writing program at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, from 1981 to 2021, where he was the Thomas Stockham Baker University Professor of English. He taught in the Antioch University-Los Angeles low-residency MFA Program from 2007 to 2021. He currently teaches in the

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...

low-residency MFA Program. The majority of Daniels' papers are held in

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Librarie
Special Collections
Daniels' literary works have been recognized and highlighted at Michigan State University in their Michigan Writers Series. He won the inaugural Brittingham Prize in Poetry in 1985 from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He was educated at

and

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

Works

Poetry

* ''Factory Poems'' (Alma: Jack-in-the-Box Press, 1979) * ''On the Line'' (Menomonee Falls: Signpost Press, 1981) * ''Places/Everyone'' (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 ...

, 1985) * ''The Long Ball'' (Pittsburgh: Pig-in-a-Poke Press, 1988) * ''Digger's Territory'' (Easthampton: Adastra Press, 1989) * ''Punching Out'' (Detroit:

Wayne State University Press Wayne State University Press (or WSU Press) is a university press that is part of Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 186 ...

, 1990) * ''Hacking It'' (St. Clair Shores: Ridgeway Press, 1992) * ''M-80'' (Pittsburgh:

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

, 1993) * ''Niagara Falls'' (Easthampton: Adastra Press, 1994) * ''Blessing the House'' (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993) * ''Brooding the Heartlands'' (Huron: Bottom Dog Press, 1998) * ''Blue Jesus'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2000) * ''Black Vinyl, Red Vinyl'' (Toledo: Aureole Press, 2001) * ''Greatest Hits'' (Johnstown: Pudding House Press, 2002) * ''Night with Drive-by Shooting Stars'' (Kalamazoo:

New Issues Press New Issues Poetry & Prose is a literary press associated with Western Michigan University. It was founded by poet and Western Michigan University professor Herbert S. Scott. Editors have included poets William Olsen and Nancy Eimers. The Huff ...

, 2002) * ''Digger's Blues'', (Easthampton: Adastra Press, 2002) * ''Show and Tell: New and Selected Poems'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003) * ''Street'' (Huron: Bottom Dog Press, 2005) * ''Now Showing'' (Burlington, Ontario: Aladada Books, 2006) * ''Revolt of the Crash-Test Dummies'' (Cheney: Eastern Washington University Press, 2007) * ''In Line for the Exterminator'' (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2007) *''From Milltown to Malltown'' (Grosse Pointe Farms: Marick Press, 2010) * ''Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2011) *''All of the Above.'' (Easthampton: Adastra Press, 2011) *''Birth Marks.'' (Rochester:

BOA Editions BOA Editions, Ltd. is an American independent, non-profit literary publishing company located in Rochester, New York, founded in 1976 by the late poet, editor and translator, A. Poulin, Jr., and publishing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The pr ...

, 2013) *''Apology to the Moon,'' (Midland: BatCat Press, 2015) *''Rowing Inland,'' (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2017) *''Street Calligraphy'' (Bowling Green, KY: Steel Toe Books, 2017) *''The Middle Ages'' (Santa Fe, NM: Red Mountain Press, 2018) *''Gun/Shy'' (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2021) *''The Human Engine at Dawn'' (South Bend: Wolfson Press, 2022) *''Comment Card'' (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2024) *''Ars Poetica Chemistrica'' (Greensburgh, PA: WPA Press, 2025)

Fiction

* ''No Pets'', stories (Huron: Bottom Dog Press, 1999) * ''Detroit Tales'', stories (East Lansing:

Michigan State University Press Michigan State University Press is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. Scholarly publishing at the university significantly predates the establishment of its press in 1947. By the 1890s the institution's Experiment Stations ...

, 2003) * ''Mr. Pleasant'', stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2007) *''Trigger Man: More Tales of the Motor City'', stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2011) *''Eight Mile High'', stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2014) *''The Perp Walk'', stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2019) *''The Luck of the Fall'', stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2023)

Nonfiction

* ''An Ignorance of Trees'', essays (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: Cornerstone Press, 2025)

Screenplays

* ''No Pets'', screenplay (director: Tony Buba) (Braddock: Braddock Films, 1994) * ''Dumpster'', screenplay (director: John Rice) (Pittsburgh:

Three Rivers Film Festival The Three Rivers Film Festival is an annual film festival, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is presented by Film Pittsburgh. Founded as part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in 1981, the first annual festival was June 4, 1982. Thirteen film ...

, 2005) *''Mr. Pleasant'', screenplay (director: John Rice) (Pittsburgh: Three Rivers Film Festival, 2010) *''The End of Blessings,'' screenplay (director: John Rice) (Pittsburgh: Three Rivers Film Festival, 2015)

Anthologies

* ''The Carnegie Mellon Anthology of Poetry'', (co-editor) poetry anthology (Pittsburgh:

Carnegie Mellon University Press Carnegie Mellon University Press is a publisher that is part of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The press specializes in literary publishing, in particular, poetry. The press is cur ...

, 1993) * ''Letters to America: Contemporary Poetry on Race'', (editor) poetry anthology (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995) * ''American Poetry: The Next Generation'', (co-editor) poetry anthology (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2000) *''Challenges to the Dream: The Best of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Awards'', (editor) (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2017) *''R E S P E C T: The Poetry of Detroit Music'', (co-editor) anthology (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2020)

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2003. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000023043.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Jim 1956 births Living people American male poets Writers from Detroit Writers from Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University faculty Alma College alumni Bowling Green State University alumni People from Warren, Michigan