Dean Rader is an American writer and professor who teaches at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, in the Department of English, where he has also served as department chair. Rader holds M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the

State University of New York at Binghamton The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

where he studied translation, poetry, visual culture, and literary studies. He is primarily known for his poems that mix high and low art and his scholarly work on Native American

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 ...

. "Self Portrait as Wikipedia Entry" was published in 2017 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 popu ...

, and the title poem also posted on ''

ZYZZYVA ''Zyzzyva'' is a triannual magazine of writers and artists. It places an emphasis on showcasing emerging voices and never before published writers in addition to the already established. Based in San Francisco, it began publishing in 1985. ''ZYZZY ...

'' on February 6, 2012. The book was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award and the Northern California Book Award and received positive reviews from ''The San Francisco Chronicle'', ''Publishers Weekly'', ''Booklist'', and ''The Rumpus''. Rader published two other books in 2017, including a collection of poems co-written with Simone Muench, entitled ''Suture'' (Black Lawrence Press), also known as the "Frankenstein Sonnets." He also edited ''Bullets into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence'' (with Brian Clements & Alexandra Teague), which was published by Beacon Press. This book contains 50 poems by American poets, and each poem is paired with a response by a survivor of a shooting, a community activist, or a leader in the gun violence prevention movement. Widely praised, ''Bullets into Bells'' was recognized by ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', ''PBS'', ''Poets & Writers'', ''Rain Taxi'', and other publications.

Literary work

In addition to his teaching, Rader is a published reviewer, a scholar of film and art, and an award-winning poet. His poem "Hesiod in Oklahoma, 1934" won the ''Sow's Ear Review'' poetry prize in 2009, judged by Kelly Cherry. Rader's debut poetry collection, ''Works and Days'', won the 2010

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presiden ...

T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize, judged by

Claudia Keelan Claudia Keelan (b. 1959) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She received the Regents’ Creative Activities Award, at the University of Nevada, Los Vegas. Life Claudia Keelan is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently ' ...

. ''Works & Days'' was also named a finalist for the Bob Bush Memorial First Book Award, and it won the Writer's League of Texas Book Award for Poetry. Rader's 2014 collection, ''Landscape Portrait Figure Form'' (Omnidawn 2014), a book that explores the connection between poetry and painting, was named by the Barnes & Noble Review as one of the year's Best Books of Poems. He was also the recipient of the George Bogin Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. Harvard poet and critic Stephen Burt selected a folio of Rader's poems entitled "American Self-Portrait" for the 2015 award. In 2011, Rader wrote a series of columns for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' on The 10 Greatest Poets, which received media coverage in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. That same year, Rader began a blog called ''99 Poems for the 99 Percent'', which posted 99 poems over 99 days. The blog featured poems by well-known writers like

LeAnne Howe LeAnne Howe (born April 29, 1951, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is an American author and Eidson Distinguished Professor in the Department of English at the University of Georgia, Athens. She previously taught American Indian Studies and English a ...

Matthew Zapruder Matthew Zapruder (1967) is an American poet, editor, translator, and professor. His second poetry collection, ''The Pajamaist'', won the 2007 William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America, and was chosen by ''Library Journal'' ...

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of ...

, Martha Collins, Heid Erdrich,

Edward Hirsch Edward M. Hirsch (born January 20, 1950) is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published nine books of poems, including ''The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems'' (2010), which brings toget ...

Timothy Donnelly Timothy Donnelly (born June 3, 1969, Providence, Rhode Island) is an American poet. Life He earned his BA from Johns Hopkins University and his MFA in Poetry from Columbia University's MFA in Creative Writing program. He is an associate profe ...

Maxine Chernoff Maxine Chernoff (born 1952) is an American novelist, writer, poet, academic and literary magazine editor. Biography She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago. Chernoff is a professor and ...

Camille T. Dungy Camille T. Dungy (born 1972) is an American poet and professor. Career Born in Denver, Colorado, Dungy graduated from Stanford University (BA) and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where she earned her MFA. She is the author of four ...

, and

Bob Hicok Bob Hicok (born 1960 Grand Ledge, Michigan) is an American poet. Life Hicok is a professor of creative writing at Virginia Tech. He is from Michigan and before teaching owned and ran a successful automotive die design business. He formerly taught ...

as well as beginning and non-professional poets. In 2014, ''99 Poems for the 99 Percent: An Anthology of Poetry'', was published in book form. In August, it debuted at number two on the Small Press Distribution Poetry Bestseller List and in September, it took over the number one spot. Rader is reported to be at work on an anthology of Native American Poetry and is writing a book of poems about the painter

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced you ...

Other awards and fellowships

* Fellowships at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

* Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry, 2019 * Appearance in Best American Poetry and Best of the Net * Poetry prizes from The Poetry Society of America, Crab Orchard Review, Common Ground Review, 2007Crab Creek News: Crab Pot Poetry Contest Results and Our First Fiction Contest To Begin Soon
/ref> * National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the University of San Francisco, 2009–2010. * Editor, Studies in American Indian Literature

Works

Poetry

*"Self-Portrait as Wikipedia Entry" (Copper Canyon Press, 2017) *"Suture" (Black Lawrence Press, 2017) *"Bullets into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence' (Beacon Press, 2017) *"Landscape Portrait Figure Form" (Omnidawn, 2014) *"99 Poems for the 99 Percent: An Anthology of Poetry (99: The Press, 2014) *"Works & Days" (T.S. Eliot Prize, Truman State University Press, 2010)

Books

* * *

Online

poem
"Sphere of Influence or Praise Song for the Warriors"
a poem commissioned by THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"America We Do Not Call Your Name Without Hope" in THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
poem
"History"
poem in The Kenyon Review
99 Poems for the 99 Percent
blog *