My Work

      I am a poet, critic, translator, and librettist. Presently, I am working on Love-Dumb: A Memoir of Madness. My poems have been published widely in journals such as Barrow Street, Basalt, Nimrod International, Poetry Salzburg Review, The Antigonish Review, The Evansville Review, Great River Review, and TriQuarterly. Several have been assembled in the chapbooks, Blue Skies and Sine Nomine, published by Finishing Line Press.  

     My libretti have been set by various composers and performed at the Eastman School of Music, at Dickinson College, at Carnegie Hall, at the National Presbyterian Church in DC, and at The Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, MD. Recently, my canticle, “Amid the Alien Corn,” was presented at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC , and another set of poems, entitled "first fruit," was performed in Dallas.  

     Having earned a Ph.D. from Duke University in Romance Languages and Literature as well as a subsequent M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Bennington College, I have spent most of my professional life teaching, both in and out of academia.  Although I gravitate toward big cities for what they have to offer in the arts, most of my imagery is pastoral and derives from experience on my parents’ farms in the South and the Midwest. For example, my 16-poem song cycle, The Edith Poems, is in the voice of a farmer lamenting his beloved wife. An elegy for Banjo, a cow, is included in this set!  

     Things you might wish to know about me:  

• During my formative years, I lived in India, Switzerland, and Belgium  
• At one time, I seriously studied art history and music (the pipe organ)  
• I love art films. A latest favorite director is Krzysztof Kieślowski  
• Languages and literature are my forte  
• Lieder (art song) seem to me to be the perfect blend of music and poetry 
• I enjoy collaborating with composers.