Joe Milford Hosts Forrest Gander

Born in the Mojave Desert in Barstow, California, Forrest Gander grew up in Virginia and spent significant periods in San Francisco, Dolores Hidalgo (Mexico), and Eureka Springs, Arkansas before moving to Rhode Island. He holds degrees in both English literature and geology. The author of numerous books of poetry, including Eye Against Eye, Torn Awake, and Science & Steepleflower, all from New Directions, Gander also writes novels (As a Friend, forthcoming 2008 from New Directions), essays (A Faithful Existence) and translates. His most recent translations are Firefly Under the Tongue: Selected Poems of Coral Bracho, No Shelter: Selected Poems of Pura Lopez-Colome, and, with Kent Johnson, two books by the Bolivian wunderkind Jaime Saenz: The Night and Immanent Visitor: Selected Poems of Jaime Saenz . Gander's poems appear in many literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad, and have been translated into half a dozen languages. Several books (see Work) in translation are available in Mexico (Zumba el Transcurrir: Poemas Escojidos and Arrancado del Sueno), Chile (Traduciendo a Saenz y Otros Poemas), and the Netherlands (Twelve X 12:00). He has received two Gertrude Stein Awards for Innovative North American Poetry, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts, and awards from The Howard Foundation and The Whiting Foundation. With poet C.D. Wright and their son, Brecht, Gander lives in Rhode Island. As Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University.