David Daniel (poet)
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Johns Hopkins University (M.A., 1983)
University of Virginia (M.F.A., 1986)[1]
David Daniel | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 20, 1960 Danville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Alma mater | Vanderbilt University (B.A., 1982) Johns Hopkins University (M.A., 1983) University of Virginia (M.F.A., 1986)[1] |
| Period | 1986–present |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable works | Ornaments (2017) |
David Michael Daniel (born August 20, 1960) is an American poet.[2] Best known for two full-length volumes of his poetry, Seven-Star Bird and Ornaments. Daniel is the creator and producer of WAMFEST: The Words and Music Festival which he founded in 2007. He is an associate professor of creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University where the festival is held.[3]
Daniel was born in Danville, Kentucky,[4] on August 20, 1960, and lived in Louisiana and North Carolina before his family settled in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, when he was 10 years old.[3] Daniel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University with a double major in English and philosophy in 1982. The following year, he received a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University in their Writing Seminars program. Then in 1986, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Virginia, where he was a Henry Hoynes Fellow.[5]
Ploughshares and other literary journals
In 1987, Daniel became the editor of AWP Chronicle (now known as The Writer’s Chronicle).[6] The following year after moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, he became the associate editor of the Harvard Book Review[7] and around the same time, joined the editorial staff of Ploughshares. He became the poetry editor for the latter literary journal in 1992, a post he held for 15 years.[8] In 2007, he became the co-poetry editor of The Literary Review, as well as a member of its board of directors, positions he held until 2012.[9]
Published works
Daniel's poems have been published in numerous magazines and literary journals, most notably in American Poetry Review, The Literary Review, The Antioch Review, Poetry East and AGNI.[10] His essay, “Thoughts on ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ and the Oral and Literary Traditions,” was published in The Poetics of American Song Lyrics, edited by Charlotte Pence.[11] Another of his essays, “Discovering the Prose Poem in Norfolk, Virginia,” was included in The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice, edited by Gary L. McDowell and F. Daniel Rzicznek.[12] Daniel also has had a large number of poetry and book reviews published, most notably in Ploughshares, Harvard Book Review and The Journal of Country Music.[13]
The Quick and the Dead
The Quick and the Dead, a chapbook of Daniel's poetry was published by Haw River Press in 1992.[14]
Seven-Star Bird
Daniel's first full-length poetry collection, Seven-Star Bird, was published by Graywolf Press in 2003. In 2004, the book was awarded the Larry Levis Reading Prize. One of the most prestigious awards of its kind, it is given to the best first or second book of poems published in the year.
After reading Seven-Star Bird, legendary literary critic Harold Bloom called Daniel “an authentic heir of Hart Crane” and included a lengthy excerpt from the book in the 2006 anthology he edited, The Library of America: Anthology of American Religious Poetry. Poet Tom Sleigh also referenced Crane in regards to the book, writing, “Like Hart Crane in ‘The Bridge’, David Daniel has a vision of desire that is transcendental, but also social, that links erotic and domestic love with love of the divine.”[15]
Ornaments
Daniel's second full-length book of poetry, Ornaments, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2017 as part of the highly regarded Pitt Poetry Series.[16]