Tony Hoagland

Anthony Dey Hoagland (born November 19, 1953) is an American poet and writer.

Life

He was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His father was an Army doctor, and Hoagland grew up on various military bases throughout the South. He was educated at Williams College, the University of Iowa (B.A.), and the University of Arizona (M.F.A.). According to the novelist Don Lee, Hoagland "attended and dropped out of several colleges, picked apples and cherries in the Northwest, lived in communes, [and] followed the Grateful Dead . . ." [http://www.pshares.org/issues/article.cfm?prmarticleID=3801 ("Ploughshares" article by Don Lee)] He currently teaches in the University of Houston creative writing program.

Poetry

Hoagland has said that "if I were going to place myself on some aesthetic graph, my dot would be equidistant between Sharon Olds and Frank O’Hara, between the confessional (where I started) and the social (where I have aimed myself). [http://www.treschicasbooks.com/pages/mir-interview-hoagland.html (Interview with Miriam Sagan)] In a 2002 citation, The American Academy of Arts and Letters said that "Hoagland's imagination ranges thrillingly across manners, morals, sexual doings, and kinds of speech lyrical and candid, intimate as well as wild." His 2003 collection "What Narcissism Means to Me" was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Works

* "Real Sofistikashun: Essays on Poetry and Craft", essays (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2006)
* "Hard Rain", poetry chapbook (Venice: [http://www.hollyridgepress.com/chapseries.htm Hollyridge Press] , 2005)
* "What Narcissism Means to Me", poetry (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2003)
* "Donkey Gospel", poetry (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 1998)
* "Sweet Ruin", poetry (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992)
* "History of Desire", poetry chapbook (Tucson: Moon Pony Press, 1990)
* "Talking to Stay Warm", poetry chapbook (Minneapolis: Coffee Cup Press, 1986)
* "A Change in Plans", poetry chapbook (Sierra Vista: San Pedro Press, 1985)

Poems in Periodicals

His poems and criticism have appeared in such publications as Poetry Magazine, Ploughshares, Agni, Threepenny Review, The Gettysburg Review, Ninth Letter, American Poetry Review, and Harvard Review, and his work was included in the 1991 Pushcart Prize anthology.

Awards

* Folger Shakespeare Library’s 2005 O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize, recognizing a poet's contributions to teaching as well as to his art.
* The Poetry Foundation’s Mark Twain Award
* James Laughlin Award (for "Donkey Gospel")
* 1992 Brittingham Prize in Poetry
* Zacharis Award from Emerson College
* 2008 Jackson Poetry Prize ["Houston professor wins Jackson Prize." "The Dallas Morning News", 5 April 2008.]

References

Source: Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2004. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000121759.