David Lee (born 1944) is 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 ...

and the first poet laureate of the state of Utah. His 1999 collection ''News From Down to the Café'' was nominated for the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

and, in 2001, he was a finalist for the position of

United States Poet Laureate The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...

. He has been acclaimed by the Utah Endowment for the Humanities as one of the twelve greatest writers to ever emerge from the state. A former farmer, he is the subject of the PBS documentary ''The Pig Poet.'' His poems have appeared widely in publications including ''

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 ...

'', ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Boston. ...

'', ''

The Missouri Review ''The Missouri Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1978 by the University of Missouri. It publishes fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction quarterly. With its open submission policy, ''The Missouri Review'' receives 12,000 manuscripts ...

'', ''

Narrative Magazine ''Narrative'' is an online magazine and website that is dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age and publishes fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and art. It was founded in 2003. History and profile Founded in 2003, the l ...

'', and ''JuxtaProse Literary Magazine''. He has been cited as an influence on writers such as

Lance Larsen Lance Larsen (born 1961 in Pocatello, Idaho) is an American poet. He served as poet laureate of Utah from 2012 to 2017. In 2007 he received the Literature Fellowship in Poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been published widely ...

and

Bonnie Jo Campbell Bonnie Jo Campbell (born September 14, 1962 in Kalamazoo, Michigan) is an American novelist and short story writer. Her most recent work is ''Mothers, Tell Your Daughters'', published with W.W. Norton and Company. Life and work Campbell attend ...

Life

Lee was born in

Matador, Texas Matador is a town in and the county seat of Motley County, Texas, United States. Its population was 607 at the 2010 census. In 1891, it was established by and named for the Matador Ranch. It is located east of Lubbock, Texas. History Th ...

and graduated from [Colorado State University and took his PHD at Utah State University, for a current biography see Samara Press and Lees most recent book, “Rusty Barbed Wire” He published his first book of poetry, ''The Porcine Legacy'', in 1974. Prior to his writing career he explored careers as a seminary student, pig farmer and boxer. He was also the last white athlete to play on a Negro league baseball team, and the only one to do so after the dissolution of the Texas Blue Stars. Lee earned his Ph.D. with a concentration in the poetry of John Milton and taught at Southern Utah University for three decades, where he served as Chairman of the Department of Language and Literature.

Awards and honors

Lee served as Utah's inaugural poet laureate from 1997-2002 and later received the Utah Governor’s Award for lifetime achievement in the arts. He is the recipient of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award in Poetry and the

Western States Book Award Western States Book Award honored notable works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and translation written and published in the Western United States. The award was given annually from 1984 until 2002. Lifetime-achievement awards were also p ...

in Poetry. In 1999, his collection ''News From Down to the Café'' was nominated for the

. In 2001, he was selected as a finalist for the position of

. His book ''So Quietly the Earth'' was among the 25 books chosen for the New York Public Library's 2004 "Books to Remember" list.

Selected works

Poetry

*''Porcine Legacy'' (

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 popu ...

, 1974) * *''Shadow Weaver'' (Brooding Heron Press, 1984) * (reprint 2004) *''Day’s Work'' (Copper Canyon Press, 1990) *''Paragonah Canyon'' (Brooding Heron Press, 1990) *''My Town'' (Copper Canyon Press, 1995) *''Covenants'' (with William Kloefkorn) (Spoon River Poetry Press, 1996) *''Wayburne Pig'' (Brooding Heron Press, 1997) *''The Fish'' (Wood Works Press, 1997) *''Twenty-one Gun Salute'' (Grey Spider Press, 1999) *''David Lee: A listener’s Guide’’ (Copper Canyon Press, 1999) * * *''Incident at Thompson Slough'' (Wood Works Press, 2002) *''So Quietly the Earth'' (Copper Canyon Press, 2004)

References

Jasmine Ellis, Granddaughter

External links

"About David Lee ""David Lee Pitches Poetry", ''Raintaxi'', Fall 1999
*http://pigpoet.com/Pig_Poet/Home.html * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, David 1944 births 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Washington and Lee University alumni Southern Utah University faculty Living people Poets from Utah Poets Laureate of Utah People from Matador, Texas