Philip Metres is an American writer (poet, translator, scholar, and essayist).
His poetry books include ''Shrapnel Maps'', ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', and ''Sand Opera''. He has published poems, essays, and reviews in literary journals and magazines including ''Poetry'', ''American Poetry Review'', ''New England Review'', ''Tin House'', ''Ploughshares'', ''New American Writing'', ''Massachusetts Review'', and others. His work has been anthologized in ''Best American Poetry''; ''The New American Poetry of Engagement''; ''With Our Eyes Wide Open: Poems of the New American Century''; ''A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry'' (2011); ''I Go to the Ruined Place: Contemporary Poems in Defense of Global Human Rights'' (2009); and ''Inclined to Speak: Contemporary Arab American Poetry'' (2008).
Honors
Metres' honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Lannan Literary Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, three Arab American Book Awards in poetry, the George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, seven
Ohio Arts Council
The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio.
History
Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it award ...
Individual Excellence Awards, the Beatrice Hawley Award, the Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry (2019), the Lyric Poetry Prize (2016), the Anne Halley Prize for best poem by ''Massachusetts Review'' (2012), the Cleveland Arts Prize (Emerging Artist) (2010), Jury Prize for ''To See the Earth'' (Lit's Literary Showcase, 2008), Twin Cranes Peace Poem Prize; "For the Fifty Who Formed PEACE with Their Bodies," and a National Endowment of the Arts fellowship (2001). His first book, ''Behind the Lines'', received the
International PeaceWriting Award. During his
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
The Thomas J. Watson Foundation is a charitable trust formed 1961 in honor of former chairman and CEO of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. The Foundation's stated vision is to empower students “to expand their vision, test and develop their potential, an ...
(1992–93), he began to translate contemporary Russian poetry, and he has since published numerous translations of the poetry of Sergey Gandlevsky, Lev Rubinstein, and Arseny Tarkovsky.
Life
After Metres received a B.A. ''magna cum laude'' from
Holy Cross College, he went on to earn an M.A. (English), M.F.A. (poetry) and Ph.D. (English) at
Indiana University at Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...
. He is currently a professor of English and Director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...
and is core faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts M.F.A. program. In 2019, Metres was a faculty member at the 2019 Conference on Poetry at
The Frost Place
The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home on Ridge Road in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
...
. Metres teaches issues related to
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
and peacebuilding in the United States, Middle East, and Northern Ireland. Of Lebanese descent on his father's side, Metres plays a role in the Arab-American literary scene. Metres currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, the award-winning writer Amy Breau, and their two daughters. His family of origin includes psychologists Kay Dannemann Metres (mother) and Phil Metres Jr. (father), entrepreneur Katherine Metres (sister), and attorney David Metres (brother).
Published works
Full-Length Poetry Collections (Original Poems and Translations)
*''Shrapnel Maps''. Copper Canyon Press, 2020.
*''Pictures at an Exhibition''. Akron Poetry Series, 2016. ,
* ''Sand Opera''. Alice James Books, 2015. ,
* ''I Burned at the Feast: Selected Poems of Arseny Tarkovsky''. Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2015. ,
* ''Compleat Catalogue of Comedic Novelties: Poems by Lev Rubinstein''. Translation by Philip Metres and Tatiana Tulchinsky. Ugly Duckling Press, 2014.
* ''To See the Earth.'' Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2008. ,
* ''Catalogue of Comedic Novelties: Selected Poems of Lev Rubinstein.'' Translation by Philip Metres and Tatiana Tulchinsky. New York: Ugly Duckling Presse, 2004. ,
* ''A Kindred Orphanhood: Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky.'' Translation by Philip Metres. Boston, MA: Zephyr Press, 2003. ,
Criticism
*''The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance''. Essays on Poetry. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. 2018.
"Beyond Grief and Grievance: The poetry of 9/11 and its aftermath." Poetry Foundation website.
Poetry Foundation website.
* "By Ambush and Stratagem: Poems of War and Peace in the Age of Pure War." ''Oxford Handbook of Modern and Contemporary Poetry.'' Ed. Cary Nelson. New York: Oxford UP, 2011.
Poetry Foundation website.
* ''Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry on the American Homefront Since 1941.'' Poetry Criticism and Social History. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2007. ,
Poetry Chapbooks
*''Returning to Jaffa''. Doha, Qatar: Diode Editions, 2019.
*''A Concordance of Leaves''. Doha, Qatar: Diode Editions, 2013. , Winner of 2014 Arab American Book Award.
* ''abu ghraib arias.'' Denver, CO: Flying Guillotine Press, 2011. , Winner of 2012 Arab American Book Award.
[ ]
* ''Thirty-Five New Pages.'' Translation. Lev Rubinstein. New York: Ugly Duckling Presse, 2011.
* ''Ode to Oil.'' Cleveland Heights, OH: Kattywompus Press, 2011. ,
* ''Instants.'' New York: Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006
* ''Primer for Non-Native Speakers.'' Kent, OH: Wick Poetry Series, 2004.
Anthologies Edited
* ''Come Together: Imagine Peace: An Anthology of Peace Poems.'' Introduction by Philip Metres. Ed. Philip Metres, Ann Smith, and Larry Smith. Huron, OH: Bottom Dog Press, 2008. ,
In Anthology
* ''Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology.'' Ed. Melissa Tuckey. University of Georgia Press, 2008. ,
Honors and awards
* Guggenheim Fellowship, Poetry, 2020
* Arab American Book Award, Non-Fiction, 2019
* Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry, 2019
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Poetry, 2016
* Lyric Poetry Award, Poetry Society of America, 2016
* Lannan Literary Fellowship, 2015.
* George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize, 2015
* PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant, 2014
* Creative Workforce Fellowship, 2014
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Poetry, 2014
* National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 2013
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Poetry, 2012
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Criticism, 2012
* Massachusetts Review Anne Halley Prize for Best Poem, 2012
* Cleveland Arts Prize, Emerging Artist Award, 2010
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award Grant, Criticism, 2009
* ''To See the Earth'', Jury Prize for the Lit's Literary Showcase, September 2008
* "For the Fifty Who Formed PEACE With Their Bodies," First Place, Twin Cranes Peace Poem contest, 2004
* "The Doors of Vereshchagin," First Place, New Words/Akron Art Museum contest, 2004
* Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Poetry, 2004
* ''Behind the Lines'', International PeaceWriting Award 2002
* "Ashberries," ''The Best American Poetry,'' 2002
* National Endowment of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, 2001
* Ross Lockridge Jr. Award for Creative Writing, Indiana University, 2001
* Guy Lemmon Prize for Professional Writing, Indiana University, 2000
* QALAM (Arab-American Literature) Contest, First Prize, Poetry, 1999
* Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, 1992-3
References
External links
* Philip Metres
personal website.* Philip Metres
"Behind the Lines"blog
* Philip Metres
faculty pageat John Carroll University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metres, Philip
1970 births
American activists
American male poets
American poets
American writers of Lebanese descent
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
John Carroll University faculty
Living people
Writers from Illinois
Writers from Ohio
21st-century American poets
21st-century American translators
21st-century American male writers
Holy Cross College (Indiana) alumni