Gregory Orr

Gregory Orr

About Gregory Orr

Gregory Orr is an American poet. He was born February 3, 1947 in Albany, New York. He grew up in the rural Hudson Valley and attended Hamilton College, then transferred to Antioch College, from which he received a B.A in 1969. He received his MFA degree in 1972 from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.
He is the author of twelve full length collections of poetry, including the forthcoming The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write (W.W. Norton, 2019) and two chapbooks. In addition, he is the author of a memoir, The Blessing (Council Oak Books, 2002), which was chosen by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the fifty best non-fiction books of 2003. His autobiographical essay on his experiences as a volunteer in the Civil Rights Movement, “Return to Hayneville,” was reprinted in Best Essays of 2009, Best Creative Non-fiction 2009, and Pushcart Prizes.
In 2018, W.W. Norton published a book based on his teaching principles entitled A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry. He has also the author of Poetry as Survival (University of Georgia Press, 2002), a consideration of the existential function of the personal lyric, and a collection of essays on poetry Richer Entanglements (University of Michigan, 1993) and a book about his former teacher and long-time friend, Stanley Kunitz (An Introduction to the Poetry of Stanley Kunitz; Columbia University Press, 1985). He co-edited the anthology Poets Teaching Poets with Ellen Bryant Voigt (University of Michigan Press, 1996).

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