Description
James Grabill was born in Ohio and attended The College of Wooster, Bowling Green State University, and Colorado State University, from which he earned MA and MFA degrees. His book, Poem Rising Out of the Earth and Standing Up in Someone (Lynx House, 1994) was awarded the Oregon Book Award for Poetry in 1995. His work has appeared widely in publications such as Willow Springs, Poetry East, The Prose Poem, Field, East West Journal, New Age Journal, The Common Review, The Bitter Oleander, and others. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and teaches literature and writing at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.
Recognition
“In James Grabill’s unique view no one should settle for a world that conducts itself as though there were no mythic dimension; his other collection of essays and his many stunning books of poems make this clear. But unlike many American writers critical of the way this world we shouldn’t settle for is going, Grabill has the visionary skill to give us a glimpse of how it should be going. In the face of the escalating inanity and aridness of post-industrial life, the fine pieces in this volume insist that compassion triumph over cruelty, meditative clarity over bombast and spin. It is a great delight to feel the weight of Grabill’s conviction (along with his immense talent) and, with sea lions, lorikeets, giant ferns, and humpback whales, to follow it to the top of the sky, where it is so much easier to see what matters and what does not.”–Christopher Howell
