Terry Randolph Hummer (born August 7, 1950) 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 wri ...
, critic, essayist, editor, and professor. His most recent books of poetry are ''After the Afterlife'' (Acre Books) and the three linked volumes Ephemeron, Skandalon, and Eon (
Louisiana State University Press). He has published poems in literary journals and magazines including ''The New Yorker, Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, The Literati Quarterly, Paris Review,'' and ''Georgia Review.'' His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship inclusion in the 1995 edition of
Best American Poetry
''The Best American Poetry'' series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing seventy-five poems.
Background
The series, begun by poet and editor David Lehman in 1988, has a different guest editor every year. Lehman, still the general ...
, the Hanes Prize for Poetry, the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence, and three
Pushcart Prizes.
Early life
Hummer was born and raised in Mississippi,
and graduated from
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
with a B. A. in 1972 and M. A. in 1974. He studied with Gordon Weaver and D.C. Berry. He graduated from the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
with a PhD, where he studied with
Dave Smith and was editor of ''Quarterly West'' in 1979.
Career
He taught at
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, where he was poetry editor of ''The Cimarron Review''. In 1984 he relocated to
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...
; there, after visiting positions at
Middlebury College (where he guest edited ''New England Review'') and the
University of California at 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 ...
, he became editor of ''The Kenyon Review''. In 1989 he returned to Middlebury as editor of ''New England Review''. He relocated to the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
in 1993, where he directed the MFA Program in Creative Writing. In 1997, he taught at
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...
. He taught at the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
, and was editor of ''The Georgia Review''. He retired from
Arizona State University.
Honors and awards
* 1992
Guggenheim Fellowship
* National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
*
Pushcart Prize (twice)
* Donald Justice Award for Poetry
Bibliography
Poetry
;Collections
*
*
* ''Lower-Class Heresy'' (University of Illinois, 1987)
*
* ''Walt Whitman in Hell: Poems'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1996)
*
*
*
*
*
*''Eon: Poems.'' LSU Press Southern Messenger Poets. 2018.
*
;Chapbooks
* ''Urn'' (Diode Editions, 2015)
* ''Translation of Light'' (Cedar Creek Press, 1976)
;Appearances in anthologies
*
*
*
*
*
;List of poems
Essays
* ''The Muse in the Machine: Essays on Poetry And the Anatomy of the Body Politic (The Life of Poetry: Poets on Their Art and Craft)''.
University of Georgia Press
The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and a ...
, 2006.
*
* ''Available Surfaces: Essays on Poesis'' (Poets on Poetry). University of Michigan Press, 2012
References
External links
Author's WebsiteAuthor's Blog* [http://www.unf.edu/mudlark/posters/hummer.html Poems: ''Mudlark Poster 81'' > 2009 > ''System, Fallacy of Composition, Bald Man, Fallacy The Illegibility of Providence, Infinite by Virtue of Its Everlastingness, Bounded by its Own Completeness'' by T.R. Hummer]
Poems: The Poetry Foundation > Poets > ''Greek'' by T.R. Hummer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hummer, T. R.
1950 births
Living people
American male poets
University of Southern Mississippi alumni
University of Utah alumni
People from Macon, Mississippi
Poets from Mississippi
American essayists
The New Yorker people
Writers from Phoenix, Arizona
Middlebury College faculty
Kenyon College faculty
University of California, Irvine faculty
University of Oregon faculty
Arizona State University faculty
University of Georgia faculty
Poets from Arizona
American male essayists