William Kilborn Knott (17 February 1940 – 12 March 2014) was an American

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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Life

Born in

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, US, Knott received his MFA from

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

and studied with John Logan in Chicago. His first collection of poems, ''The Naomi Poems: Corpse and Beans'', was published in 1968 under the name Saint Geraud, a fictional persona whose backstory included a suicide two years prior to the publishing. ''The Naomi Poems'' was well received and brought him to the attention of such poets as James Wright, who called him an "unmistakable genius." Knott taught at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

for more than 25 years, published many books of poetry, and was awarded the Iowa Poetry Prize and a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Work

Early in his career, Knott was noted for writing unusually short poems, some as short as one line, and untitled. Later he became interested in metrical verse forms and syllabics. He was not a believer in poetic "branding" and throughout his career refused to restrict himself to one particular school or style of writing. His poetry's subjects, themes and tones were also wide-ranging. His work often displayed a wry, self-deprecating sense of humor, and he was critical of what he saw as an epidemic of humorlessness in contemporary American poetry. Poets who cite him as an influence include

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Denise Duhamel Denise Duhamel (born 1961 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American poet. Background Duhamel received her B.F.A. from Emerson College and her M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts recipient and has been ...

Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...

, and Janaka Stucky. One of Johnson's novels, ''Already Dead: A California Gothic'', was inspired by Knott's "Poem Noir." A selection of his work, ''I Am Flying Into Myself: Selected Poems, 1960-2014'', was compiled by Thomas Lux and published by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

in February 2017. Knott was also a visual artist, known for giving away booklets of his poetry with hand-painted covers.

Bibliography

Books published by Bill Knott include: *''The Naomi Poems: Book One: Corpse and Beans'' (1968), Follett, under the pseudonym 'St. Geraud' *''Aurealism: A Study'' (1969), Salt Mound Press. (chapbook) *''Auto-Necrophilia; The _____ Poems, Book 2'' (1971), Big Table Pub., *''Nights of Naomi'' (1972), Big Table (chapbook) *''Love Poems to Myself'' (1974), Barn Dream Press, Boston, (chapbook) *''Rome in Rome'' (1976), Release Press. *''Selected and Collected Poems'' (1977), SUN *''Becos'' (1983),

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, *''Outremer'' (1989),

University of Iowa Press The University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa. Established in 1969, thUniversity of Iowa Pressis an academic publisher of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. The UI Press is the only universit ...

, *''Poems 1963-1988'' (1989),

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 ...

, *''Collected Political Poems 1965-1993'' (1993) Self-published chapbook *''Sixty Poems of Love and Homage'' (1994) Self-published chapbook *''The Quicken Tree'' (1995), Boa Editions, Hardcover Softcover *''Laugh at the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969-1999'' (2000), Boa Editions, *''The Unsubscriber'' (2004),

, *''Stigmata Errata Etcetera'' (2007),

Saturnalia Books Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple o ...

, He also collaborated on a novel with James Tate, ''Lucky Darryl'' (Release Press, 1977).

References

External links

Bill Knott Poetry Forum
- open discourse / interpretation of Bill Knott's work
billknottblog.blogspot.com
- Bill Knott's blog
billknottartblog.blogspot.com
- Bill Knott's art blog
americanpoems.com
- A short biography and several poems by Bill Knott {{DEFAULTSORT:Knott, Bill 1940 births 2014 deaths American male poets People from Carson City, Michigan Norwich University alumni Chapbook writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers