Frank Xavier Gaspar 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 ...
,
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
and professor of Portuguese descent. A number of his books treat Portuguese-American themes or settings, particularly the Portuguese community in
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
. His most recent novel is ''The Poems of Renata Ferreira'' (Tagus Press (January 16, 2020)). His most recent collection of poems is ''Late Rapturous'' (
Autumn House Press
Autumn House Press is an independent, non-profit literary publishing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
Autumn House Press was founded in 1998 by Michael Simms when prominent American publishers, driven by e ...
, July, 2012). His fourth collection of poetry, ''Night of a Thousand Blossoms'' (
Alice James Books
Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.
History and mission
"Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, MA in 197 ...
, 2004) was one of 12 books honored as the "Best Poetry of 2004" by ''
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
''. Gaspar's books have won many awards. His first collection of poetry, ''The Holyoke,'' won the 1988
Morse Poetry Prize (selected by
Mary Oliver
Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary ...
); ''Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death '' won the 1994 Anhinga Prize for Poetry (selected by
Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetr ...
); ''A Field Guide to the Heavens'' won the 1999
Brittingham Prize in Poetry
The Brittingham Prize in Poetry is a major United States literary award for a book of poetry chosen from an open competition.
The prize, established in 1985, is sponsored by the English Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is ...
(selected by
Robert Bly
Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ' ...
; his novel, ''Leaving Pico,'' won the California Book Award For First Fiction, and the Barnes & Noble Discovery Award., and Stealing Fatima was a Massbook of the year in fiction (
Massachusetts Center for the Book
The Massachusetts Center for the Book is Massachusetts's affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
Mission
The Massachusetts Center's mission is to "advance the cause of books and reading and enhance the outreach potentia ...
).
He has published poems in numerous journals and magazines, including ''
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 ...
,'' ''
Harvard Review
''Harvard Review'' is a biannual literary journal published by Houghton Library at Harvard University.
History
In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, founded a quarterly periodical called ''Erato''. ...
,'' ''
The American Poetry Review
''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizabe ...
,'' ''Kenyon Review'' ''
The Hudson Review
''The Hudson Review'' is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts.
History
It was founded in 1947 in New York, by William Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1 ...
,'' ''
The Georgia Review
''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Fiction ...
,'' ''Ploughshares,'' ''Prairie Schooner,'' ''Mid-American Review,'' and ''Gettysburg Review.'' His poetry has been anthologized in ''Best American Poetry'' 1996 and 2000. He has won fellowships from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
and The California Arts Commission, and received three
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...
s.
Born in
Provincetown
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
,
, in 1966 Gaspar joined the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
and served for years, including two tours on the aircraft carrier
USS Hornet (CV-12)
USS ''Hornet'' (CV/CVA/CVS-12) is an ''Essex''-class aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy (USN) during World War II. Completed in late 1943, the ship was assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force (variously designated as Task Force ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and the recovery of
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
space module. He earned an
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
(MFA) from the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
.
During fall semester of 2010, he taught in the Department of English at the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...
as the Endowed Chair Professor in Portuguese Studies. He has been professor of English and creative writing at
Long Beach City College
Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...
in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and has taught in the Graduate Writing Program at
Antioch University Los Angeles
Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA) is a campus of Antioch University in Culver City, California.
Background
Antioch College was founded in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Horace Mann, Antioch College’s first president's goal was to create an educati ...
. Currently, he teaches in the MFA Writing Program at
Pacific University
Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wood ...
, Oregon.
Published works
Poetry Collections
* ''Late Rapturous '' (Autumn House Press, July 1, 2012)
* ''Night of a Thousand Blossoms '' (Farmington: Alice James Books, 2004)
* ''A Field Guide to the Heavens'' (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and po ...
, 1999)
* ''Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death'' (Tallahassee:
Anhinga Press
Anhinga Press is an American, independent, literary press located in Tallahassee, Fla. The press began in 1972 as an outgrowth of the Apalachee Poetry Center, a non-profit organization promoting the reading and understanding of poetry. In 1976, f ...
, 1995)
* ''The Holyoke'' (Boston:
Northeastern University Press
The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...
, 1988)
Novels
* ''The Poems of Renata Ferreira ''
Tagus Press January, 2020)
* ''Stealing Fatima'' (Counterpoint, December, 2009) (see
Counterpoint LLC
Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent So ...
)
* ''Leaving Pico '' (Hanover:
University Press of New England
The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...
, 1999)
Library of Congress Online Catalog > Frank X. Gaspar Search
/ref>
References
Sources
''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2002. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000138095
External links
Interview: ''Portuguese American Journal'' > December 2012 > ''Frank X. Gaspar a much-beloved writer - Interview''
Interview: ''Connotation Press'' > Issue IV, Volume II > January 2010 > ''Frank X. Gaspar - Interview''
* ttp://www.webdelsol.com/Perihelion/gasparpoetry.html Poems: ''WebdelSol'' > Poems by Frank X. Gaspar from ''Perihelion''
Poem: Academy of American Poets > ''The One God Is Mysterious'' by Frank GasparPoem: The New Yorker > January 11, 2016 Issue > Quahogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspar, Frank X.
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
Writers from California
Novelists from Massachusetts
Long Beach City College faculty
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth faculty
American people of Portuguese descent
University of California, Irvine alumni
National Endowment for the Arts Fellows
United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War
People from Provincetown, Massachusetts
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
American male poets
United States Navy sailors
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers