William Stobb

William Stobb (born 1970) is an American poet and author of essays and short fiction.^[1] He is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse,^[2] and an editor at Conduit magazine and Conduit Books and Ephemera.^[3]

Stobb's first poetry collection was a chapbook, For Better Night Vision, published by the Black Rock Press at the University of Nevada.^[4][5] His first full-length book, Nervous Systems, was selected by August Kleinzahler for the National Poetry Series, and published by Penguin Books in 2007.^[6][7] Absentia (Penguin) and Artifact Eleven: Desert Fragments (Black Rock Press) appeared in 2011.^[8][4] In 2018, Stobb's poetry collection You Are Still Alive won the 42 Miles Press poetry prize, and was published in 2019.^[9][10]

Stobb's work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Colorado Review, Conduit, Denver Quarterly, DIAGRAM, Kenyon Review, Lit Hub, and Mississippi Review, among other publications.^[4] In 2025, his work appeared in the critical anthology Afterlives of the New York School of Poets: An Anthology (Routledge), edited by Angela Ball.^[11] Stobb has received poetry awards and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets^[12] and the Nevada Arts Council, as well as the Editors' Prize from Spoon River Poetry Review for his poem "A Moment for Authentic Shine."^[13] Stobb's short story, "All the Bodies," won the 2019 Zona Gale Award from the Council of Wisconsin Writers for best short story by a Wisconsin author.^[2] In 2025, Stobb's critical essay on Michael Heizer's earthwork City appeared in North American Review.^[14] Stobb creates audio art that can be heard on SoundCloud.^[15] His early podcast, "Hard to Say," was presented by miPOradio from 2004–2010.^[16] Stobb has presented at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference.^[17]

Stobb was born in Little Falls, Minnesota,^[1] and studied at the University of North Dakota and the University of Nevada.^[18]