Merrill Gilfillan
Merrill Daniel Gilfillan is an American writer of poetry, short fiction, and essays.Life and work
Gilfillan was born and raised in Mount Gilead, Ohio, where his outdoorsman father worked as a naturalist for the state's Department of Natural Resources and helped inspire an early fascination with the natural world and its creatures. Gilfillan graduated in 1967 from the University of Michigan. He attended the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop for two years, studying with Ted Berrigan, Anselm Hollo, and George Starbuck, among others. He lived and worked in New York City for eight years and then moved to Colorado, which served as a base for frequent expeditions to the Great Plains and other regions of America from which he reports in essays, poetry, and short stories. He now lives in Asheville, North Carolina.Books
Poetry
- Truck, Angel Hair Books, New York, 1970
- 9:15, Doones Press, Bowling Green, OH, 1970
- Skyliner, Blue Wind Press, Berkeley, 1974
- To Creature, Blue Wind Press, Berkeley, 1975
- Light Years: Selected Early Poems, Blue Wind Press, Berkeley, 1977
- River through Rivertown, The Figures, Great Barrington, MA, 1982
- Coppers and Blues, Plum Pit, Boulder, 1997
- On Heart River, Dayo, Denver, 1995
- Satin Street, Moyer Bell, Wakefield, RI, 1997
- The Seasons, Adventures in Poetry, New York | Boston, 2002
- Small Weathers, Qua Books, Jamestown, RI, 2004
- Undanceable, Flood Editions, Chicago, 2005
- Selected Poems 1965-2000, Adventures in Poetry, New York & Boston 2005
- The Bark of the Dog, Flood Editions, Chicago 2010
- Harpsichord Hills, Horse Less Press, Grand Rapids, MI, 2013
- Red Mavis, Flood Editions, Chicago 2014
- ', Shirt Pocket Press Grand Rapids, MI, 2017
- Old River, New River, Red Dragonfly Press, Northfield, MN, 2019
Essays
- ', Pruett | Vintage | Bison, 1988 | 1990 | 2003
- ', Hard Press, West Stockbridge, MA, 1997
- ', Johnson Books, Boulder, 1998
- , Johnson Books, Boulder, 2003
- , Flood Editions, Chicago, 2010
Fiction
- Sworn Before Cranes, Crown, New York, 1994
- Grasshopper Falls, Hanging Loose, Brooklyn, 2000
- , Flood Editions, Chicago, 2019
Drawings
- Distant Rivers, Prairie Rose Press, Muscatine, IA, 2013
Interviews
- Chicago Review, Winter, 2013
- L’Art du paysage, vol. 7, "Motifs du Paysage Nord-American," Vincent Dussol, Paris, 2014
- The Believer, , Martin Riker, April 18, 2019
Awards
- 1967, Major Hopwood Award for poetry, University of Michigan
- 1989, PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction for Magpie Rising
- 1998, Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction for Chokecherry Places
