Campbell McGrath (1962)
Poet
Biography:
Born in Chicago to Irish-Catholic parents, he grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended the University of Chicago, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. At Columbia University, he was in creative writing classes with fiction writer Rick Moody and received a Master of Fine Arts in 1988. Although he has taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University in the past, he currently teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami. He was deeply influenced by Walt Whitman particularly, and James Wright, Sylvia Plath, and Rainer Maria Rilke. McGrath has published numerous collections of poetry, and writes predominantly free-verse, long-lined, documentary poems as a kind of catalog, where the long lines look at the vast complexity of America and penetrate its paradoxes and attractions. He has also written many prose poems as well as shorter lyrics. Some of his collections are Spring Comes to Chicago (1996). The centerpiece of the collection, and one of McGrath’s best-known poems, is “The Bob Hope Poem,” a 70-page opus modeled on Robert Pinsky’s “An Explanation of America” and James McMichael’s “Four Good Things.” His collections also include Capitalism (1990); American Noise (1994); Florida Poems (2002); Pax Atomica (2005); Seven Notebooks (2007); and In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys (2012).
While primarily known as a poet, McGrath has also written a play, "The Autobiography of Edvard Munch" (produced by Concrete Gothic Theater,
Chicago, 1983); a libretto for Orlando Garcia's experimental video opera "Transcending Time" (premiered at the New Music Biennalle, Zagreb,
Croatia, 2009); collaborated with the video artist John Stuart on the video/poetry piece "14 Views of Miami" (premiered at The Wolfsonian, Miami,
2008). He was also the co-translator for Aristophanes’s play, The Wasps for the Penn Greek Drama Series (1999).
McGrath’s work has been recognized by some of the most prestigious American poetry awards, including the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award a Pushcart Prize, the Academy of American Poets Prize, a Ploughshares Cohen Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, and a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award”. His poetry has been widely anthologized, including in The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (1999), The New American Poets (2000), and Great American Prose Poems (2003). In 2011 he was named a Fellow of United States Artists.
On an interesting side-note, he was a member of a punk band called Men from the Manly Planet. McGrath says it was just a short-lived college thing, but he still likes music. Some of his favorites are The Ramones, The Clash, Gang of Four, Angry Samoans, The Replacements, and Pavement. Music inspired him to write Pax Atomica, which is about rock ‘n’ roll music and covers everything from Guns ‘n’ Roses to The Sex Pistols.)
His works according to himself:
In a 2005 interview McGrath explained that the poem’s shape “is not a narrative but a symphonic structure.” Interviewers always ask McGrath about the lengths of his poems. Sometimes a single poem can fill an entire book. When asked why he writes such long poems, McGrath said,“If you play with a lot of toys you need a big box in which to throw them.” He is often asked why he doesn’t just write prose, but he says the epic poem needs a better rep these days. His poems often have a narrative “road trip” feel. He believes setting is extremely important to his work, providing not only a location but a cultural background for his poems. McGrath also likes to reference pop culture. He work can be satirical. His writing is also influenced by history; his book, Shannon, is an epic poem about
George Shannon, the youngest member of The Corps of Discovery, more commonly known as Lewis and Clark’s expedition. William Carlos Williams’s Patterson was also influential to him. McGrath’s “Bob Hope Poem” was inspired by two other poems: “An Explanation of America,” by Robert Pinsky and “Four Good
Things,” by James McMichael.
One of his interviews:
http://www.smartishpace.com/pqa/campbell_mcgrath/
Poet
Biography:
Born in Chicago to Irish-Catholic parents, he grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended the University of Chicago, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. At Columbia University, he was in creative writing classes with fiction writer Rick Moody and received a Master of Fine Arts in 1988. Although he has taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University in the past, he currently teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami. He was deeply influenced by Walt Whitman particularly, and James Wright, Sylvia Plath, and Rainer Maria Rilke. McGrath has published numerous collections of poetry, and writes predominantly free-verse, long-lined, documentary poems as a kind of catalog, where the long lines look at the vast complexity of America and penetrate its paradoxes and attractions. He has also written many prose poems as well as shorter lyrics. Some of his collections are Spring Comes to Chicago (1996). The centerpiece of the collection, and one of McGrath’s best-known poems, is “The Bob Hope Poem,” a 70-page opus modeled on Robert Pinsky’s “An Explanation of America” and James McMichael’s “Four Good Things.” His collections also include Capitalism (1990); American Noise (1994); Florida Poems (2002); Pax Atomica (2005); Seven Notebooks (2007); and In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys (2012).
While primarily known as a poet, McGrath has also written a play, "The Autobiography of Edvard Munch" (produced by Concrete Gothic Theater,
Chicago, 1983); a libretto for Orlando Garcia's experimental video opera "Transcending Time" (premiered at the New Music Biennalle, Zagreb,
Croatia, 2009); collaborated with the video artist John Stuart on the video/poetry piece "14 Views of Miami" (premiered at The Wolfsonian, Miami,
2008). He was also the co-translator for Aristophanes’s play, The Wasps for the Penn Greek Drama Series (1999).
McGrath’s work has been recognized by some of the most prestigious American poetry awards, including the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award a Pushcart Prize, the Academy of American Poets Prize, a Ploughshares Cohen Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, and a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award”. His poetry has been widely anthologized, including in The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (1999), The New American Poets (2000), and Great American Prose Poems (2003). In 2011 he was named a Fellow of United States Artists.
On an interesting side-note, he was a member of a punk band called Men from the Manly Planet. McGrath says it was just a short-lived college thing, but he still likes music. Some of his favorites are The Ramones, The Clash, Gang of Four, Angry Samoans, The Replacements, and Pavement. Music inspired him to write Pax Atomica, which is about rock ‘n’ roll music and covers everything from Guns ‘n’ Roses to The Sex Pistols.)
His works according to himself:
In a 2005 interview McGrath explained that the poem’s shape “is not a narrative but a symphonic structure.” Interviewers always ask McGrath about the lengths of his poems. Sometimes a single poem can fill an entire book. When asked why he writes such long poems, McGrath said,“If you play with a lot of toys you need a big box in which to throw them.” He is often asked why he doesn’t just write prose, but he says the epic poem needs a better rep these days. His poems often have a narrative “road trip” feel. He believes setting is extremely important to his work, providing not only a location but a cultural background for his poems. McGrath also likes to reference pop culture. He work can be satirical. His writing is also influenced by history; his book, Shannon, is an epic poem about
George Shannon, the youngest member of The Corps of Discovery, more commonly known as Lewis and Clark’s expedition. William Carlos Williams’s Patterson was also influential to him. McGrath’s “Bob Hope Poem” was inspired by two other poems: “An Explanation of America,” by Robert Pinsky and “Four Good
Things,” by James McMichael.
One of his interviews:
http://www.smartishpace.com/pqa/campbell_mcgrath/