I was born in small-town Minnesota and went to school in Minneapolis. At UMN I studied under James Wright, whose poetry has been important in my life. His famous poem "The Blessing" describes a rural scene near the site of my childhood, and his Minneapolis poems opened my eyes to social issues of which I'd been unaware.

I went to U of Southern Cal for graduate school and then taught at Loyola University New Orleans, where I chaired the English Dept. and edited New Orleans Review. After a fight with throat cancer, I returned to Minnesota, where I write and run a one-person publishing venture called Lost Hills Books. Visit me at http://www.losthillsbks.com.