Jamie Parsley (born December 8, 1969) is an American poet and Episcopal priest. He is the author of twelve books of poems and an associate poet laureate for the state of North Dakota.

Biography

Born in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

and raised near

Harwood, North Dakota Harwood is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 794 at the 2020 census. It has become a bedroom community of the nearby Fargo-Moorhead area. Harwood was founded in 1881. History Harwood was platted in 1881 whe ...

, Parsley received a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from

Vermont College Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

. He studied at the School of Theology at Thornloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, St. Joseph’s College, Standish, Maine and received a Master's Degree from

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglicanism, Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically Conservatism, ...

Episcopal Seminary, Nashotah, Wisconsin. Parsley was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 2004, became the priest-in-charge of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Fargo in 2008. Parsley began teaching Theology, Ethics, Philosophy, Literature and Writing at the

University of Mary The University of Mary (UMary or simply Mary) is a private, Benedictine university near Bismarck, North Dakota. It was established in 1959 as Mary College. The university is the largest degree-granting institution in western North Dakota. It ha ...

's Fargo campus in 2003. Parsley published his first book of poems, ''Paper Doves, Falling and Other Poems'' in 1992. Parsley’s book, ''Cloud'', is a book-length poem on the bombing of Hiroshima. Parsley's book of collected haiku, ''no stars, no moon: new and collected haiku,'' was published in 2004. Parsley was appointed an Associate Poet Laureate of North Dakota by Poet Laureate

Larry Woiwode Larry Alfred Woiwode (October 30, 1941April 28, 2022) was an American writer from North Dakota, where he was the state's Poet Laureate from 1995 until his death. His work appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''Esquire'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'', '' H ...

in 2004.

Reception

Parsley’s tenth book, ''Fargo, 1957'', was published in 2010, and chronicled the stories of the victims and survivors of the

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

that struck

on June 20, 1957 and killed two of his mother's cousins. A reviewer in the

High Plains Reader The ''High Plains Reader'' is an alternative newspaper serving the Fargo metropolitan area, with an estimated readership of 20,000 to 30,000 weekly between print and online readers. The tabloid was founded in 1994 by Ian Swanson, Peter Ryan, and ...

writes that Parsley's shows a "willingness to present himself and his own obsession honestly—the process of discovering these people and what they have left behind."

Publications

*''Paper Doves, Falling and Other Poems'' Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1992 *''The Loneliness of Blizzards''. Mellen Press; Lewiston, New York. 1995. *''Cloud: a poem in 2 acts''; Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York 1997 *''The Wounded Table'' Pudding House, Johnstown, Ohio 1999 *''earth into earth, water into water''. Enso Press, Fargo, North Dakota 2000 *''no stars, no moon''. Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York 2004 *''Ikon,'' Enso Press, Fargo, North Dakota 2005. *''Just Once'', Loonfeather Press, Bemidji, Minnesota 2007 *''This Grass''. Enso Press, Fargo, North Dakota. 2009 *''Fargo, 1957''. Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota. 2010 *''Crow''. Enso Press, Fargo, North Dakota. 2012 *''That Word''. North Star Press, St. Cloud, Minnesota. 2014 *''The Downstairs Tenant and Other Stories'' (Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University, 2014)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsley, Jamie 1969 births American male poets Poets Laureate of North Dakota Vermont College of Fine Arts alumni American Episcopalians American Episcopal priests American Episcopal clergy Writers from Fargo, North Dakota Living people 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers