Micah Ballard is a

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 ...

born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

on September 23, 1975. Since 1999 he has lived in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with his wife, poet Sunnylyn Thibodeaux. Under the imprints Auguste Press and Lew Gallery Editions they have printed over 30 books by various poets and artists. Ballard attended the Poetics Program at

New College of California New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission ...

in San Francisco’s

mission district The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...

where he worked with David Meltzer, Joanne Kyger, and Tom Clark. From 2000-07 he directed the Humanities Program there. In 2007 Ballard started the short-lived Lew Gallery with

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

artist Jeff Butler and curated such notable shows as "Artworks" by David Meltzer and "Some of the Worlds Diamonds: Pieces from Living Rooms," a collaboration with painters and poets from San Francisco to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Ballard has given poetry readings at a variety of venues, including the San Francisco State Poetry Center,

City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ...

, SOMArts,

Pacific Northwest College of Art The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...

, Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. His poems have appeared in ''6x6,'' ''Blue Book,'' ''Boog City,'' ''Damn the Caesars,'' ''Drunken Boat,'' ''Joe Brainard's Magazine,'' ''Le Palais de Nuit,'' ''LIT,'' ''Mirage #4 Period(ical),'' ''The Recluse,'' ''Try!,'' ''Vanitas,'' and the anthologies ''Bay Poetics'' and ''Evidence of the Paranormal,'' among others. Currently, he is on the editorial board for the Contemporary Poetry Series at

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

Press. Ballard co-directs 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 admin ...

in Writing Program at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. Ballard's second full-length collection of poetry, '' Waifs and Strays'', was nominated for a ''

California Book Award The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to ...

''.http://www.commonwealthclub.org/about/press-room/press-release/finalists-announced-81st-annual-california-book-awards,

Bibliography

Full-length poetry collections

* ''Busy Secret'' (FMSBW, 2024) * ''The Michaux Notebook'' (FMSBW, 2019) * ''Afterlives'' ( Bootstrap Productions, 2016) * '' Waifs and Strays'' (

City Lights Books City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ...

, 2011) * ''Parish Krewes'' ( Bootstrap Productions, 2009)

Criticism

Negative Capability Negative capability is the capacity of artists to pursue ideals of beauty, perfection and sublimity even when it leads them into intellectual confusion and uncertainty, as opposed to a preference for philosophical certainty over artistic beauty ...

in the Verse of John Wieners (Auguste Press, 2001) (2nd edition Bootstrap Productions, 2017)

Chapbooks A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

* ''Muddy Waters'' (State Champs, 2022) * ''Selected Prose (2008-2019)'' (Blue Press, 2020) * ''Daily Vigs'' (Bird & Beckett Books, 2019) * ''Vesper Chimes'' (Gas Meter, 2014) * ''Widows & Orphans'' (Lew Gallery, 2011) * ''Darrell'' (Blue Press, 2007) * ''New Poems'' (Blue Press, 2006) * ''Evangeline Downs'' ( Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006) * ''Scenes from the Saragossa Manuscript'' (Snag Press, 2004) * ''Emblematic'' (Old Gold, 2004) * ''In the Kindness of Night'' (Blue Press, 2003) * ''Bettina Coffin'' (Red Ant, 2003) * ''Absinthian Journal'' (Old Gold, 2002) * ''Chandeliers from the Metairie Cemetery'' (Blue Press, 2001)

Collaborative books

* ''Poems from the New Winter Palace'' with Michael Carr (arrow as aarow, 2010) * ''Easy Eden'' with Patrick James Dunagan (Push, 2009) * ''Death Race V.S.O.P.'' with Will Yackulic & Cedar Sigo (Red Ant, 2005) * ''Wrought Iron & Burgundy'' with Sunnylyn Thibodeaux (Auguste Press, 2004) * ''A Plywood Press Primer'' with Cedar Sigo (Plywood Press, 2000)

Anthology appearances

* ''Bay Poetics'' (Faux Press, 2005) * ''Evidence of the Paranormal'' (Owl Press, 2003)

References

External links

Micah Ballard reads poems
for InDigest's InDefinite Podcast # https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elQVU063Leo # https://www.scribd.com/doc/31848115/selections-from-Micah-Ballard-s-Parish-Krewes # http://reviews.coldfrontmag.com/parish-krewes-by-micha-ballard.html # https://web.archive.org/web/20101214141318/http://welcometoboogcity.com/boogpdfs/bc40.pdf # https://web.archive.org/web/20110708142130/http://www.cherrybleeds.com/bitches1/nov06.html # http://galatearesurrection5.blogspot.com/2007/02/8-publications-by-micah-ballard.html # http://galatearesurrection11.blogspot.com/2008/12/evangeline-downs-by-micah-ballard.html # http://galatearesurrection3.blogspot.com/2006/08/six-chaps-by-ballard-thibodeaux.html # http://galatearesurrection14.blogspot.com/2010/04/easy-eden-by-micah-ballard-james.html # http://www.poetryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/nl_218_final.pdf # http://poetryproject.org/tag/micah-ballard # http://sites.google.com/site/gallagheronpoetry/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Micah Living people 1975 births New College of California University of San Francisco faculty Poets from Louisiana Writers from Baton Rouge, Louisiana 21st-century American poets