David Bottoms (born 1949 in Canton,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) is an American poet.

Biography

Bottoms' first book, ''Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump'', was selected by

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...

as winner of the 1979

Walt Whitman Award The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...

of the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

. His poems have appeared in magazines such as ''

The Southern Review ''The Southern Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established by Robert Penn Warren in 1935 at the behest of Charles W. Pipkin and funded by Huey Long as a part of his investment in Louisiana State University. It publishes fiction ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''

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, Phil ...

'', and ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'', as well as in over four dozen anthologies and textbooks. He is the author of eight other books of poetry, ''In a U-Haul North of Damascus'', ''Under the Vulture-Tree'', ''Armored Hearts: Selected and New Poems'', ''Vagrant Grace'', ''Oglethorpe's Dream'', ''Waltzing Through the Endtime'', and ''We Almost Disappear'' as well as two novels, ''Any Cold Jordan'' and ''Easter Weekend''. His most recent book of poetry, ''Otherworld, Underworld, Prayer Porch'', was published in 2018 by

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both pop ...

. Among his awards are the Levinson and the Frederick Bock prizes from ''Poetry Magazine'', an

Ingram Merrill Foundation The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet James Merrill (1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchyBraving the Elements ''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retrie ...

Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Bottoms has given over 200 readings in colleges and universities across the United States, as well as the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

, The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, and The American Academy in Rome. He has been interviewed on several regional and national radio and television programs, including two interviews on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and he is featured in a half-hour segment of ''The Southern Voice'', a five-part television miniseries profiling Southern writers. Essays on and reviews of his work have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''The New York Times Book Review'', ''The Los Angeles Times'', ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', ''Southern Living'', ''The Southern Review'', '' Poetry'', ''The Observer'' (London), and dozens of other newspapers and literary journals. Profiles appear in a number of resource books, including ''The Dictionary of Literary Biography'', ''Contemporary Literary Criticism'', and ''The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry''. In 2006, Bottoms was honored as a Star of the South by ''Irish America'' magazine. Bottoms received his BA from

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...

and his PhD from Florida State University. He has been a Richard Hugo Poet-in-Residence at the University of Montana and currently holds the John B. and Elena Diaz-Amos Distinguished Chair in English Letters at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

in Atlanta, where he co-edits ''Five Points: A Journal of Art and Literature'' and teaches creative writing. He was

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

of Georgia from 2000 to 2012.

Bibliography

Poetry

Collections

*''Otherworld, Underworld, Prayer Porch'', (

, 2018) *''We Almost Disappear'', (Copper Canyon Press, 2011) *''Waltzing Through the Endtime'', (

, 2004) *''Oglethorpe's Dream'' *''Vagrant Grace'', (Copper Canyon Press, 1999) *''Armored Hearts: Selected and New Poems'', (Copper Canyon Press, 1995) *''Under the Vulture-Tree'' *''In a U-Haul North of Damascus'' *''Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump'', (William Morrow and Company, 1980) *''Jamming with the Band at the VFW'' *''Signed for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt'',(Copper Canyon Press, 1995)

Anthology

*''The Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets'' (editor)

List of poems

Novels

*''Easter Weekend'' *''Any Cold Jordan''

References

External links

Academy of American Poets

The New Georgia Encyclopedia

David Bottoms Papers
at Stuart. A Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottoms, David Living people 1949 births Poets from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia State University faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets Laureate of Georgia (U.S. state) People from Canton, Georgia The New Yorker people