William F. DeVault

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Poet, author. Called the "Romantic Poet of the Internet" by Yahoo, (1996).

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, USA, August 16, 1955. Graduated Morgantown High School, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1973. Briefly attended West Virginia University.

Having begun his writing at age eight, to strong approval, it was only a matter of time before the poet launched himself into neo-romanticism (or, some insist, neo-metaphysics, his themes and content often bridge or merge multiple schools). His early works were full of yearning and passion, including "the unicorns", "I should have been immortal", "tread softly" and "Monument". His "voice" includes polysyllabic words, heavy religious and mythological allusions and a tendency towards lines so long they wrap most published pages. He is a single draft poet, known for taking the position that editing destroys the "purity" and "emotional resonance" of the work. His use of "totem-muses" or metaphorical pseudonyms for his lovers, such as "the Panther", "the Goldenheart" and "Brigit, the Goddess of Fire and Poetry", has also become synonymous with his works.

In the mid-1990's he wrote a weekly humour column for America Online's Writers Club and helped establish the Poets Place on AOL, becoming their first chat host (his "Romantic and Erotic Poetry Group" became a showcase for the best and brightest of the "digital renaissance" poets online.) The digital renaissance movement, among poets, became a rebellion against the tight editorial control exercised by magazine editors and academia, with thousands upon thousands of poets, mostly young, posting to websites or even creating their own online chapbooks to allow their audience to find them, rather than deal with the "filtration" of ideas and forms, which he felt was stifling the development of the literary art form. This rebirth in the literary arts, fueled by and based on the ability to instantly release artistic compositions to a worldwide audience via the World Wide Web, afforded the poet the absolute creative control that he demanded in the packaging and distribution of his works.

During this time his "Panther Cycles" became his first major breakthrough, hundreds of poems that served as a literary diary of the ups and downs of an affair the still-married poet was having with an artist he had met online, whom he named "The Panther" to mask her real identity and give the works a metaphorical frame. When this relationship imploded in 1996 he wrapped up his divorce and headed to Los Angeles, where he settled into the famed artists' community that is Venice Beach and proceeded to write some of his most enduring and emotionally tortured works while being involved in a series of high profile affairs.

In the fall of 2002, he was one of a handful of writers (and one of the first American poets) selected to take part in the Edinburgh International Internet Festival of the Arts in Scotland.

The foreword of his fourth book, "Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion", was written by Larry Jaffe, the International Readings Coordinator for the United Nations' Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry.

In 2004 he was named to the Appalachian Education Initiative's list of 50 Outstanding Creative Artists from West Virginia.

He is referred to as "the amomancer" (one who casts spells with words of love). He is known to have written under several pseudonyms, and is sometimes credited with being the coiner of the phrase "digital renaissance", although he does not claim this distinction.

He has worked as a management, technical and proposal writing consultant with such firms as Computer Sciences Corporation, Perot Systems, DMR-Fujitsu, CACI and GE-Capital.

Recent times have found him blogging and podcasting from his website, and he has added experimentation with music fused with his poetry to his arsenal of creative interests. He has recently released a CD of his compositions, entitled "The Last Romantic Verb".

1 Quotes about him:
2 Books
3 CDs
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Quotes about him:

"A modern poet of real literary, musical and cultural consequence." - Aberjhani, author, "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

"William F. DeVault's poetry embodies the essence of romance..." - Brandy Walton, senior poetry editor, EWG Presents.

"Sensuous and intoxicating...William DeVault's poetry burns with romance, mystique, and passion." - Robin C. Travis-Murphee, editor, Poetic Voices.

"A master...the future of the Digital Renaissance." Poetry Now! (UK).

"William F. DeVault, known as the "amomancer" is a living legend who will live beyond time, as his words are forever captured by his prolific pen. - Lupi Basil, CEO/Editor, Wings of Dawn Publishing, Emotions Magazine.

[edit] Books

PanthEon (1997). Now out of print.
From Out Of The City (1997). Subsumed by "from an unexpected quarter".
From An Unexpected Qarter (1999).
Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion (2001).
101 Great Love Poems (2002).
INVOCATO (2005).
The Morgantown Suite (2005).
The Compleat Panther Cycles (2005).
"101 Great Erotic Poems" (2006, announced, now delayed until 2007).
"Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite" (2006, announced).
"Psalms of the Monster River Cult" (2006, announced) Joint project with Daniel S. McTaggart).