Heather Derr-Smith

Heather Derr-Smith

Heather Derr-Smith is an American poet. She was born in Dallas, Texas in 1971 and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles, California.[1] Her family then moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia where she spent her middle and high school years. She studied at the University of Virginia, earning a B.A. in Art History. At U.V.A. she also took poetry workshops with Gregory Orr, Charles Wright and Rita Dove.[2]

She went on to earn her MFA in Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop where she studied with Marvin Bell, Jorie Graham, Jim Galvin, and Mark Doty.[3] Her first book, "Each End of the World" was published by Main Street Rag Press in 2005. The book was called "Astonishing" and "a devastating performance" by Mark Doty. The poems are about the 1991-1996 wars in the former Yugoslavia (Yugoslav Wars), where Derr-Smith volunteered in a refugee camp in Gasinci, Croatia in the summer of 1994.[4]

Derr-Smith's second collection of poems, "The Bride Minaret" was published at the University of Akron Press. It was selected by Elton Glaser for the Akron Series in Poetry in 2008. It was edited by Mary Biddinger, who writes, "Heather Derr-Smith's second collection journeys to the rough core of desire, creating and destroying binaries along the way."[5] The poems are about personal and global issues of exile and identity. There is also a strong sense of place and connection to the natural environment. Many of the poems were written in Damascus, Syria where Derr-Smith was interviewing Iraqi and Palestinian refugees during the Iraq war troop surge of 2007. Denise Duhamel writes "The Bride Minaret is a book of emotional, literary, and cultural substance. As Mendelson wrote of Auden: the poems bear witness to the close connection between intelligence and love." [5]

Derr-Smith's poems deal with urban-ecological subject matter. Her most recent poems have a strong connection to the land and the natural environment. Many of the poems also wrestle with issues of spirituality, religion and suffering. Derr-Smith has described her religious upbringing in several interviews and often writes about her father's Mennonite heritage. Derr-Smith explores issues of sexuality and identity, LGBT issues, and feminism in connection with ecology.[6]

Derr-Smith has received numerous awards and grants, including grants from Iowa State University, the Iowa Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Derr-Smith was the 2009 Visiting Poet at Iowa State University in the Creative Writing and the Environment MFA Program and taught creative writing there for many years. She was a Visiting Poet at the International University of Sarajevo and led workshops at the Sarajevo Gymnasium and American University in Tuzla in December 2009.[7][8]

Her third collection, Tongue Screw is forthcoming from Spark Wheel Press in April, 2016.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Heather Derr-Smith". Author Detail. University of Acron Press. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Heather Derr-Smith". Directory of Writers. Poets & Writers. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  3. ↑ Kander, Jenny. "Heather Derr-Smith – Boundary Waters". The Poets Weave. Indiana Public Media. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  4. ↑ Smith, Heather. "Each End of the World. Main Street Rag Press. Charlotte, NC. 2005
  5. 1 2 Derr-Smith, Heather (2008). The Bride Minaret. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron Press. pp. Back Cover. ISBN 9781931968577.
  6. ↑ DePoole, Frank. "A Conversation with Heather Derr-Smith". Interviews. Barn Owl Review. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Poet Heather Derr-Smith Invited to Deliver Series of Lectures in Bosnia". Department of English. Iowa State University. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  8. ↑ Fayen, Micholyn. Des Moines Register. Dec. 23, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Heather Derr-Smith". sparkwheelpress.com. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.