UW Professor Nominated for National Book Award

Oct. 13, 2006 -- Harvey L. Hix, a University of Wyoming professor of English and the director of UW's masters in fine arts program in creative writing, is one of five finalists for the National Book Award in poetry.

Hix was nominated for "Chromatic," three sequences of poems that explore the full range of effects caused by human desire, from ecstasy to suffering. Each borrows its title from a work of genius: "Remarks on Color" from Ludwig Wittgenstein, "Eighteen Maniacs" from Duke Ellington, and "The Well-Tempered Clavier" from J. S. Bach.

The other four finalists are: Louise Gluck, for "Averno"; Ben Lerner, for "Angle of Yaw"; Nathaniel Mackey, for "Splay Anthem"; and James McMichael, for "Capacity."

The National Book Award winners will be announced Nov. 15, at a ceremony in New York City.

The author of five books of poetry and five volumes of prose, Hix is editor of three books. His poetry has been recognized with the Grolier Prize, the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Peregrine Smith Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Last year, Garrison Keillor selected one of Hix's poems to read on his National Public Radio program, "The Writer's Almanac."

In 2005, Hix came to UW to direct UW's Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts program, an intensive 40-hour studio degree in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Special features of the program include opportunities for interdisciplinary study, supported by a wide range of university departments, and a required professional internship on campus, in the community, or farther afield, ensuring the acquisition or polishing of "real-life" writing skills.

Hix earned a bachelor of arts in English and philosophy (1982) from Belmont University, Nashville; and masters (1985) and doctoral (1987) degrees in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. Between 1987 and 2005, he taught at Kansas City Art Institute and The Cleveland Institute of Art.

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Harvey Hix.

Posted on Friday, October 13, 2006

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