Frank Xavier Gaspar (born 1946) is a Portuguese American poet, novelist and professor. His most recent novel is Stealing Fatima (Counterpoint press, December, 2009). His most recent collection of poetry, Night of a Thousand Blossoms (Alice James Books, 2004) was one of 12 books honored as the "Best Poetry of 2004" by Library Journal. Gaspar's first four books all won awards: his first collection of poetry, The Holyoke, won the 1988 Morse Poetry Prize (selected by Mary Oliver); Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death won the 1994 Anhinga Prize for Poetry (selected by Joy Harjo); A Field Guide to the Heavens won the 1999 Brittingham Prize in Poetry (selected by Robert Bly;[1] and his novel, Leaving Pico, won the Barnes & Noble Discovery Award.[2]
He has published poems in numerous journals and magazines, including Ploughshares,[3] Harvard Review, Kenyon Review,[4] Prairie Schooner, Mid-American Review,[5] and Gettysburg Review. His poetry has been anthologized in Best American Poetry 1996 and 2000. He has also won a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and three Pushcart Prizes.
Born in Provincetown, Massachusetts,[6] Gaspar served in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War.[7] He earned an MFA from the University of California, Irvine.
During fall semester of 2010, he taught in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth as the Endowed Chair Professor in Portuguese Studies.[8] He is Professor Emeritus at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California, and often teaches in the Graduate Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles.[9]
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Poetry Collections
Novels
Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2002. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000138095