Michael Robert Collier (born 1953) is an American poet, teacher, creative writing program administrator and editor. He has published five books of original poetry, a translation of Euripides' ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'', a book of prose pieces about poetry, and has edited three anthologies of poetry. From 2001 to 2004 he was the Poet Laureate of Maryland. As of 2011, he is the director of the

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most ...

, a professor of creative writing at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

and the poetry editorial consultant for

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

(now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Life

Collier was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

and graduated from Brophy College Preparatory in 1971. He attended the

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

for one year, then transferred to

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...

in 1973 to study with the Pulitzer prize-winning poet William Morris Meredith, Jr. In 1977, he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on a Thomas Watson fellowship and worked with editor William Cookson on the British literary magazine ''Agenda''. After graduating cum laude from Connecticut College in 1976, and receiving his M.F.A. in creative writing from the

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

in 1979, he was a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center 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 ...

, from 1979 to 1980. He moved to the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, area in 1981, where he began teaching part-time at

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 ...

, Trinity College and the

. From 1983 to 1984, Collier was the coordinator of public relations and the poetry program at the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...

. In 1984, he was appointed full-time to the English faculty at the University of Maryland. In the summer of 1981, he attended the

for the first time as the Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Poetry, followed by stints as a fellow in 1986, and as associate faculty in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, the trustees of

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

appointed him Director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Founded in 1926, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is the longest-running writers' conference in the United States. In 2002, Houghton-Mifflin Publishers appointed Collier as its editorial consultant for poetry. He has edited books by the American poets Michael Ryan, Spencer Reece, and Alan Shapiro and the British poet Glyn Maxwell, as well as the books ''Native Guard'' by

Natasha Trethewey Natasha Trethewey (born April 26, 1966) is an American poet who served as United States Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection ''Native Guard'', and is a former Poet Laureate of Missi ...

which won the 2007

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

and ''Space Walk'' by Tom Sleigh, which won the 2008 $100,000 Kingsley Tufts award from Claremont Graduate University. From 2001 to 2004, Collier served as the Maryland state poet laureate. He was a 202
James Merrill House
Fellow in Stonington, CT. He is married and has two sons.

Work and artistic influences

Collier's poems often reveal a fascination with objects and their significance. In a 2005 interview, Collier stated that he has "always been drawn to more formal poets like

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

" and continued by saying that other "early influences included

Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, an ...

and early

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

…and W.H. Auden,

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (194 ...

." He added "I strongly identify with

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

Randall Jarrell Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914 – October 14, 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—a position that now bears the title Poet ...

, and

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

.""An Interview with Matt Barry," ''Grove Review'', On Poetry Interview Series, Fall 2005.

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections *''Dark Wild Realm'', Houghton Mifflin, 2006. (Paperback edition, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin, October 2007 ) *''The Ledge'', Houghton Mifflin, 2000. (Paperback edition, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin, April 2002 ) *''The Neighbor'', University of Chicago Press, 1995; 2nd printing 1996; 3rd printing, 1999. *''The Folded Heart'', Wesleyan University Press, 1989. *''The Clasp and Other Poems'', Wesleyan University Press, 1986 (Second printing, 1987). *''My Bishop and Other Poems'', University of Chicago Press, 2018 ;Anthologies (edited) *''The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology'', ed. Michael Collier, University Press of New England, 2000. *''The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry'', eds. Michael Collier and Stanley Plumly, University Press of New England, 1999; second printing, 2000. *''The Wesleyan Tradition: Four Decades of American Poetry'', Wesleyan University Press, 1993 (Second printing, 1995). ;List of poems

Prose and translation

*''A William Maxwell Portrait: Appreciations and Memories'', edited with Charles Baxter and

Edward Hirsch Edward M. Hirsch (born January 20, 1950) is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published nine books of poems, including ''The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems'' (2010), which brings toget ...

, W.W. Norton, Inc. (W.W. Norton, 2004). *''Medea'', translated by Michael Collier. Introduction and notes by Georgia Machemer. Oxford University Press, 2006. *''Make Us Wave Back: Essays on Poetry and Influence'', University of Michigan Press, 2007.

Awards

*Finalist,

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c) organization, 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the N ...

Award in Poetry, 2001 for ''The Ledge''. *Finalist,

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Book Prize for Poetry, 2001 for ''The Ledge''. *

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

Fellowship, 1995 *

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 ...

Creative Writing Fellowship, 1994 and 1984. *National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, 1984. *"Discovery"

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 ...

Award, 1981. *Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Poetry, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 1981. *Writing Fellow, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, 1979–80. *Thomas Watson Traveling Fellowship, 1976

References

External links

"A Weekly Poem, Read By the Author"
Collier, Michael. "The Lift." ''Slate''. April 1, 2003.
"A Weekly Poem, Read By the Author"
Collier, Michael. "Shelley's Guitar." ''Slate'', May 20, 2003.
"A Weekly Poem, Read by The Author"
Collier, Michael. "Brave Sparrow." ''Slate''. October 2, 1997.
"A Weekly Poem, Read by The Author"
Collier, Michael. "The Swimmer." ''Slate''. August 13, 1998.
"A Conversation with Michael Collier [audiorecording]"
''Blackbird Archive: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts''. Fall 2007, Vol. 6, no. 2.
"Interview with Michael Collier, poet and director of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference"
''write the book'' #19, michael collier/bread loaf (8/9/08) {{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Michael 1953 births Living people 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets American male poets The Atlantic (magazine) people Connecticut College alumni National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets laureate of Maryland Poets from Arizona Poets from Maryland University of Maryland, College Park faculty Writers from Phoenix, Arizona 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers