Episode 062: David St. John

Poet David St. John was born in Fresno, California. He received his bachelor’s degree at California State in Fresno and went to the University of Iowa for an M.F.A. His works of poetry include Hush (1976), Terraces of Rain (1991) The Red Leaves of Night (1999), The Face: A Novella in Verse (2004), and The Auroras (2012). He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award, the James D. Phelan Award, the Academy Award in Literature, and various grants and fellowships. St. John has taught at Oberlin College and John Hopkins University, and currently teaches at the University of Southern California. The interview was conducted by Cornell professor and poet Joanie Mackowski, author of the collections The Zoo (2002) and View From A Temporary Window (2010). St. John read from his work on April 5, 2012, in Cornell’s Goldwin Smith Hall. This interview took place earlier the same day.