Brian Blanchfield Explained

Brian Blanchfield is an American poet and essayist.

Early life and education

He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1973, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Warren Wilson College.^[1] He is the author of two books of poetry, Not Even Then (2004) and A Several World (2014), and a book of essays/autobiography, Proxies (2016).

Writings

A Several World was the 2014 recipient of the James Laughlin Award^[2] and was a longlist finalist for the National Book Award.^[3] The book takes its title from a 17th-century poem by Robert Herrick, and deals with questions about subjectivity and individuality versus the collective.^[4] Proxies is a collection of 24 single-subject essays that concludes with a 21-page rolling endnote, "Correction." In a starred review, Publishers Weekly noted that "in each entry Blanchfield picks a subject—foot washing, authorship, owls—and examines it from several angles until the connection between metaphysical principle and lived experience suddenly crystallizes, often producing an analogy as surprising as it is lovely."^[5]

Blanchfield's poems and essays have been published by The Nation,^[6] Harper's Magazine,^[7] BOMB,^[8] The Paris Review,^[9] Brick,^[10] Conjunctions,^[11] Guernica,^[12] and other publications.

Professional activities

He has taught creative writing at the Pratt Institute, Otis College of Art and Design, the University of Montana, the University of Arizona, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He currently teaches as an associate professor at the University of Idaho.^{[13] [14]}

In 2010 he became a poetry editor of Fence^[15] and in 2015–16 was guest editor of the PEN Poetry Series.^[16] He hosted and produced episodes 1-32 of Speedway and Swan, a poetry and music radio show on KXCI Community Radio in Tucson, Arizona.^[17]

Bibliography

Poetry and essays books

• Not Even Then (University of California Press, 2004)^[18]
• A Several World (Nightboat Books, 2014)^{[19] [20]}
• Proxies: Essays Near Knowing (Nightboat Books, 2016)^[21]

Shorter publications

• The History of Ideas, 1973-2012 (Spork Press, 2013)
• Correction. (Essay Press, 2016)^[22]

Honors and awards

Honors

• George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship (2015–2016)^[23]

Literary awards

• National Book Award Longlist, Poetry^[24]
• James Laughlin Award (2014)^[25]
• Whiting Award for Nonfiction (2016)^{[26] [27]}

External links

• PEN America
• Academy of American Poets Author Page
• National Book Award
• Nightboat Books Author Page
• Editor Interview
• Speedway and Swan, KXCI

Notes and References

1. Web site: Brian Blanchfield . Poetry Foundation . 2017-04-25.
2. Web site: James Laughlin Award. Poets.org. 2017-04-25.
3. Web site: 2014 National Book Awards . Nationalbook.org . 2014-10-15 . 2017-04-25.
4. Web site: National Book Foundation Names Poetry Finalists. Artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com. 16 September 2014 . 2017-04-25.
5. https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-9376-5845-8
6. Web site: Brian Blanchfield . The Nation . 2012-09-18 . 2017-04-25.
7. There's the Rub. Brian. Blanchfield. Harper's Magazine . 1 November 2015. Harpers.
8. Web site: On Dossiers, Permitting Shame, Error and Guilt, Myself the Single Source . Brian Blanchfield . Bobmmagazine.org . 2017-04-25.
9. Web site: Smalltown Lift . Paris Review . 2017-04-25.
10. Web site: Brick 94 | Brick Magazine . 2016-02-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160224131618/http://brickmag.com/issues/brick94 . 2016-02-24 .
11. Web site: Web Conjunctions: Two Onesheets, by Brian Blanchfield . Conjunctions.com . 2017-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220080125/http://conjunctions.com/webcon/blanchfield13.htm . 2016-12-20 . dead .
12. Web site: Tag for "brian blanchfield - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics . 2016-02-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054148/https://www.guernicamag.com/tag/brian-blanchfield/ . 2016-03-04 .
13. Web site: people . 28 January 2015. 2019-02-24.
14. Web site: Brian Blanchfield . 2021-02-22.
15. Web site: about . Fence Portal . 2017-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170405133405/http://www.fenceportal.org/?page_id=50 . 2017-04-05 . dead .
16. Web site: PEN American Center . 2016-02-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160301200201/http://www.pen.org/topic/poetry-series . 2016-03-01 .
17. https://poetry.arizona.edu/visit/speedway-swan
18. News: Burt . Stephen . 21 November 2004 . Poetry : Happy as Two Blueplate Specials . 2017-04-25 . The New York Times.
19. Web site: Tue, 01/13/2015 - 10:23am . 2015-01-13 . Brian Blanchfield's A SEVERAL WORLD . 2017-04-25 . The Iowa Review.
20. Web site: 2014-09-23 . Lambda Literary . 2017-04-25 . Lambda Literary.
21. Web site: Nonfiction Book Review: Proxies: Essays Near Knowing by Brian Blanchfield. Publishersweekly.com . 2016-02-22 . 2017-04-25.
22. http://www.essaypress.org/ep-54/
23. Web site: Brown University . Previous Fellowship Awardees, Howard Foundation . 2017-04-25 . Brown.edu.
24. Web site: A Several World by Brian Blanchfield, 2014 National Book Award Longlist, Poetry . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170710032548/http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_p_blanchfield.html#.VnGZGsArI19 . 2017-07-10 . 2017-04-25 . Nationalbook.org.
25. Web site: The Academy of American Poets Announces the Recipients of the 2014 American Poets Prizes | Academy of American Poets . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160505164940/https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/stanza/academy-american-poets-announces-recipients-2014-american-poets-prizes . 2016-05-05 . 2016-03-24.
26. Web site: 23 March 2016 . Announcing The Winners of the 2016 Whiting Awards . 2017-04-25 . Theparisreview.org.
27. News: March 23, 2016 . 10 Young Writers Receive $50,000 Whiting Awards . 24 March 2016 . . Associated Press.