faculty

David St. John

Professor of English

Contact Information
E-mail: dstjohn@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-3748
Office: THH 444

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
 

Biographical Sketch

David St. John was born in Fresno, California. He attended California State University, Fresno, and The Writer’s Workshop at The University of Iowa. David St. John has been honored, over the course of his career, with many of the most significant prizes for poets, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, both the Rome Fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the O. B. Hardison Prize (a career award for teaching and poetic achievement) from The Folger Shakespeare Library, and a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation. His work has been published in countless literary magazines, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry, American Poetry Review, Harper's, Antaeus, and The New Republic, and has been widely anthologized. He has taught creative writing at Oberlin College and The Johns Hopkins University and currently teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he served as Director of The Ph. D. Program in Literature and Creative Writing. David St. John is the author of nine collections of poetry, most recently The Face: A Novella in Verse, as well as a volume of essays, interviews and reviews entitled Where the Angels Come Toward Us. He is presently completing a new volume of poems entitled, The Auroras.

Education

  • B.A. English (Creative Writing), California State University, Fresno
  • M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Iowa

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Professor St. John studies poetry writing and contemporary literature. His most recent literary works include The Prism, The Red Leaves of Night and In the Pines: Lost Poems.

Publications

Book
  • St. John, David & Swensen, Cole (Ed.). (2008). American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology of the New Poem.
  • St. John, David (Ed.). (2006). The Pushcart Book of Poetry.
Essay
  • St. John, D. (2007). Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems.
  • St. John, D. (2005). "Introduction" - Cloud View Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2005). The Imaginary Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Poets on Place.
  • St. John, D. (2005). High Lonesome: On the Poetry of Charles Wright.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Lasting: Poems on Aging.
  • St. John, D. (2004). "Larry Levis: An Afterward" - A Condition of the Spirit: The Life and Work of Larry Levis.
Novella
  • St. John, D. (2004). The Face: A Novella in Verse. HarperCollins.
Other
  • St. John, D. M. (2002). Prism. Arctos Press.
  • St. John, D. M. (1999). The Red Leaves of Night. HarperCollins.
  • St. John, D. M. (1999). In the Pines: Lost Poems 1972-1997. White Pine Press.
  • St. John, D. M. (1995). Where the Angels Come Toward Us: Selected Essays, Reviews, and Interviews.
Poem
  • St. John, D. (2007). Third Rail: The Poetry of Rock and Roll.
  • St. John, D. (2006). Lineas Conectados: Nueva Poesia de los Estados Unidos.
  • St. John, D. (2006). American Alphabets: 25 Contemporary Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2005). The Janitor at Radio City Music Hall.
  • St. John, D. (2005). The Imaginary Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Poetry Calendar 2006.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Range of Voices.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Cloud View Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Manthology: Poems on the Male Experience.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Words Brushed by Music.
  • St. John, D. (2005). The Face of Poetry.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Literature: The Human Experience.
  • St. John, D. (2005). Francis and Clare in Poetry.
  • St. John, D. (2004). Old Glory: American War Poems from the Revolutionary War to the War in Iraq.
  • St. John, D. (2004). The Best of Poetry Daily.
  • St. John, D. (2003). So Luminous the Wildflowers: an Anthology of California Poets.
  • St. John, D. (2003). The Misread City: New Literary Los Angeles.
  • St. John, D. (2003). Against Constraints: Poets for Peace Anthology.

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works

  • Music/Poetry Collaboration, "The Village," a setting of two poems by David St. John by composer Donald Crockett; premiered in Germany by the Hilliard Ensemble, February 23, 2005., Spring 2005   
  • Music/Poetry Collaboration, The Face, a chamber opera with libretto by David St. John (based on the book of poems: The Face: A Novella in Verse) and composed by Donald Crockett., 2007-2008   

Honors and Awards

  • Endowed Chair, The Elliston Chair in Poetry, University of Cincinnati, Spring 2007   
  • Endowed Professorship, Hurst Professor in Creative Writing: Two week master class, Spring 2005   
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, O. B. Hardison Prize in Poetry, The Folger Shakespeare Library, 2001  
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Academy Award in Poetry, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2000  
  • Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient, 1994  
  • NEA Fellowship, 1994  
  • NEA Fellowship, 1984  
  • NEA Fellowship, 1976  
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