Brian Blanchfield is an American poet and essayist.

Early life and education

He was born in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

in 1973, and graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

and

Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus j ...

. He is the author of two books of poetry, ''Not Even Then'' (2004) and ''A Several World'' (2014), and a book of essays/autobiography, ''Proxies'' (2016).

Writings

''A Several World'' was the 2014 recipient of the

James Laughlin Award The James Laughlin Award, formerly the Lamont Poetry Prize, is given annually for a poet's second published book; it is the only major poetry award that honors a second book. The award is given by the Academy of American Poets, and is noted as one ...

and was a longlist finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. The book takes its title from a 17th-century poem by Robert Herrick, and deals with questions about subjectivity and individuality versus the collective. ''Proxies'' is a collection of 24 single-subject essays that concludes with a 21-page rolling endnote, "Correction." In a starred review, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' noted that "in each entry Blanchfield picks a subject—foot washing, authorship, owls—and examines it from several angles until the connection between metaphysical principle and lived experience suddenly crystallizes, often producing an analogy as surprising as it is lovely." Blanchfield's poems and essays have been published by ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly 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 tha ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''BOMB'', the ''

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

'', ''Brick'', ''Conjunctions'', ''Guernica'', and other publications.

Professional activities

He has taught creative writing at the Pratt Institute,

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...

, the University of Montana, the University of Arizona, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He currently teaches as an associate professor at the University of Idaho. In 2010 he became a poetry editor of ''

Fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. ...

'' Magazine and in 2015-16 was guest editor of the PEN Poetry Series. He hosted and produced episodes 1-32 of Speedway and Swan, a poetry and music radio show on KXCI Community Radio in Tucson, Arizona.

Publications

* ''Proxies: Essays Near Knowing'' (

Nightboat Books Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books. History The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and ...

, 2016) * ''A Several World'' (

, 2014) * ''Not Even Then'' (

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 2004)

Chapbooks

* ''Correction.'' ( Essay Press, 2016) * ''The History of Ideas, 1973-2012'' (

Spork Press Spork Press is a small press in Tucson, Arizona edited and constructed by Richard Siken, Drew Burk, Andrew Shuta, Joel Smith, and Jake Levine. Beginning in 2001, it began publishing a quarterly literary magazine called ''Spork'', which is often bo ...

, 2013)

Honors and awards

* Whiting Award for Nonfiction (2016) * George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship (2015-2016) *

(2014) * National Book Award Longlist, Poetry

References

External links

PEN America

Academy of American Poets Author Page

Nightboat Books Author Page

Editor Interview

Speedway and Swan, KXCI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchfield, Brian Living people 21st-century American poets University of North Carolina alumni University of Idaho faculty 1973 births American LGBT writers American male poets American LGBT poets 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American LGBT people