Annie Finch

Annie Finch (born 1956) is an American poet, librettist, and critic, translator, and editor of poetry. She is known for her attention to a variety of poetic forms, her focus on earth-based spirituality, and her interest in the traditions of women's poetry. She is the author of four books of poetry including a translation of the complete poetry of French Renaissance poet Louise Labe. She has also published two books of poetics and edited or coedited five anthologies of poetics. Finch attended Oakwood Friends' School and Bard College at Simon's Rock before earning her B.A. at Yale University, her M.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Houston, and her PhD at Stanford University. She has taught at New College of California, the University of Northern Iowa, and Miami University of Ohio, and is currently Professor of English and Director of the Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine. She also founded the influential Discussion of Women's Poetry ("Wom-po") international listserv, which now has over 800 members.

elected Publications

Books of Poetry

Calendars. Manchester, VT: Tupelo Press, 2003. [Shortlisted, Foreword Poetry Book of the Year Award for 2003] . Reprinted with Audio CD, 2008.

Eve. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1997.

The Encyclopedia of Scotland. Caribou Press, 1982; Cambridge: Salt Publishing. 2005.

Chapbooks And Limited Editions

Annie Finch’s Greatest Hits. Pudding House Press, 2007.

Home-Birth. Cincinnati, OH: Dos Madres Press, 2004.

Season Poems. San Francisco: Calliope Press, 2002.

Catching the Mermother. West Chester, PA: Aralia Press, 1996.

Opera Libretti

Lily Among the Goddesses. Music by Deborah Drattell. Production in progress.

Marina. American Opera Projects, DR2 Theater, New York, 2003.

Poetry Translation

The Complete Poetry and Prose of Louise Labé: A Bilingual Edition. Edited with Critical Introductions and Prose Translations by Deborah Lesko Baker and Poetry Translations by Annie Finch. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Books About Poetry

A Poet’s Craft: The Making and Shaping of Poems. Forthcoming. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010.

A Poet’s Ear: A Handbook of Meter and Form. Forthcoming. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010.

The Body of Poetry: Essays on Women, Form, and the Poetic Self. Poets on Poetry Series, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005.

The Ghost of Meter: Culture and Prosody in American Free Verse. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. Paperback edition with new preface, 2001.

Edited books of poetry

An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. With Katherine Varnes. University of Michigan Press, 2002.

A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994.

Edited Essay collections

Multiformalisms: Postmodern Poetics of Form. Coeditor with Susan Schultz. Wordtech Editions, 2008.

Lofty Dogmas: Poets on Poetics. Coeditor with Maxine Kumin and Deborah Brown. University of Arkansas Press, 2005.

Carolyn Kizer: Perspectives on Her Life and Work. Coeditor with Johanna Keller and Candace McClelland. CavanKerry Press, 2000.

After New Formalism: Poets on Form, Narrative, and Tradition. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1999.

External links

* Academy of American Poets page
* Annie Finch's Homepage
* Workshop and reading by Annie Finch from the Stonecoast MFA program's Winter 2008 residency
* Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poetry
* "Ringing Aloud With Newer Sounds: Prosodic Subjectivity and the Mother-Infant Matrix in the Poetry of Georege Herbert and Annie Finch"
* Interview at MiPoesias Radio (2006)
* Review of Calendars in Web Del Sol by Patricia Monaghan