About Jim Harrison
James Thomas “Jim” Harrison (born December 11, 1937, in Grayling, Michigan; died March 26, 2016, in Patagonia, Arizona) was an American poet and writer. Harrison studied literature at Michigan State University, graduating with a master's degree in 1964. He worked briefly as an assistant at the State University of New York and, beginning in 1966, supported himself as a freelance writer, initially on a very modest budget. After briefly teaching at Stony Brook University, he published the collection of poems “Plain Song” in 1965 before returning to Michigan to work as a freelance journalist and laborer. He wrote poetry and published his first novel, “Wolf: A False Memoir”, in 1971. His extensive output includes 15 collections of poetry, 9 collections of short stories, 12 novels, 3 essays, 2 memoirs, and a children's book.Early in his career, he received fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1969. He was awarded the Spirit of the West Award by the Mountain & Plains Booksellers Association and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2007.
Harrison published short stories and essays in leading American magazine. Two of his novels were adapted into films: “Revenge” (1990) and “Legends of the Fall” (1994). He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1994 film adaptation of “Wolf” with Wesley Strick, for which they received a Saturn Award. In 2015, Harrison was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Winner of the 2014 Michigan Author Award, he died at the age of 78 in Patagonia, Arizona, on March 26, 2016, following a heart attack.
Browse all poems and texts published on Jim Harrison
Poetry, at its best, is the language your soul would speak, if you could teach your soul to speak.
