Graham W. Foust (born August 25, 1970) is an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q * George Quasha (born 1942) R S T U–V ...

and currently is an associate professor at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

Early life and education

Foust was born in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and grew up in Eau Claire,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

from

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and h ...

, a Master of Fine Arts from George Mason University, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the State University of New York-Buffalo.

Academic

Foust teaches contemporary poetry in both an English literature and creative writing context. From 1998 to 2000, Foust, along with Benjamin Friedlander, co-edited ''Lagniappe'', an online journal devoted to poetry and poetics. From 2002 to 2005, Foust was a professor at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

in Des Moines,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

; he is presently an associate professor at the University of Denver.

Poet

Foust has written six full collections of poetry; ''As in Every Deafness'' (Flood Editions, 2003), ''Leave the Room to Itself'' (Ahsahta Press, 2004), ''Necessary Stranger'' (Flood Editions, 2007), ''A Mouth in California'' (Flood Editions, 2009), ''To Anacreon In Heaven'' (Flood Editions, 2013), and "Time Down to Mind" (Flood Editions, 2015). He most recently published a collection of translations from German, in collaboration with Samuel Frederick, of Ernst Meister's later poems titled ''In Time's Rift m Zeitspalt', through

Wave Books Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...

in September, 2012.

Reception

Three of Foust's poems were featured in the winter 2009 (volume 43, issue 1) edition of '' The Laurel Review'': ''The Only Poem'', ''Promotional'', and ''Frost at Midnight''. Foust's work was also chosen by Robert Creeley for the ''Beyond Arcadia'' issue of Conjunctions. David Pavelich believes Foust's poetry to be "a unique blend of whisper and raw humor, darkness and economy of thought".Profile by David Pavelich
chicagopostmodernpoetry.com Foust's third book, ''Necessary Stranger'', was described as "intense, hip, ironic and subtly humorous" in ''

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 ...

'', and in December 2007 reached third place on the small-press poetry best-seller list. His fourth book, ''A Mouth in California'', received a starred review in ''Publishers Weekly'', which noted that Foust had "achieved a wide reputation in and beyond experimental poetry circles for his clipped, breathless poems, often no longer than one or two haiku, but packing an intimate punch that belies their length." Foust has cited Rae Armantrout as an influence; Armantrout pronounced herself "quite pleased" with that, saying she was "very fond of oust'swork", but considered Foust to have a distinctive style: "Foust's poems are minimalist, yes, more so than mine, in fact, but his sensibility is very much his own." A review of ''A Mouth in California'' in the ''

Oxonian Review ''The Oxonian Review'' is a literary magazine produced by postgraduate students at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight during term time, an online edition is published featuring reviews and essays on current affairs and literature. It is ...

'' characterised Foust's work as "bleak, funny, curt, and self-effacing", informed by the understanding that "everyday speech, set slightly out of joint or context, can deliver both personal and collective revelation. ..Foust ..doesn’t take himself too seriously, yet he’s a seriously good poet. ..And best of all, Foust is subtle."

Bibliography

*''Nightingalelessness'' (Flood Editions, 2018) *''Time Down to Mind'' (Flood Editions, 2015) *''Of Entirety Say the Sentence'', poems by Ernst Meister'','' co-translated with Samuel Frederick (Wave Books, 2015) *''Wallless Space,'' poems by Ernst Meister, co-translated with Samuel Frederick (Wave Books, 2014) *''To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems'' (Flood Editions, 2013)
''In Time's Rift [Im Zeitspalt]''
poems by

Ernst Meister Ernst Meister (3 September 1911 – 15 June 1979) was a German poet and writer. Meister's poetry falls within a dark abstract landscape of existentialism, with tortured themes influenced by his experiences during World War II. In his 1976 coll ...

, co-translated with Samuel Frederick (

, 2012) *''A Mouth In California'' (Flood Editions, 2009) *''Necessary Stranger'' (Flood Editions, 2007) *''As in Every Deafness'' (Flood Editions, 2003) *''Leave the Room to Itself'' (Ahsahta, 2003)

References

External links

Author Homepage
at

Graham Foust's Faculty Homepage
at St Mary's College of California * Graham Foust's poe
"Vicarious" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (24.1)

''Jacket'', July 2001

online journal archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Foust, Graham 1970 births Living people American male poets Beloit College alumni Drake University faculty George Mason University alumni People from Knoxville, Tennessee University at Buffalo alumni 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers