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Peter Balakian

Peter Balakian

Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor in Humanities; Professor of English; Director of Creative Writing
English , 415 Lathrop Hall
p 315 2287271
Personal website: www.PeterBalakian.com

Degree

 BA Bucknell University 1973; PhD Brown University 1980

Specialities

 American poetry, Creative Writing: poetry, genocide studies, Armenian genocide

Interests

 American poetry, contemporary poetry and creative non-fiction, modern poetry in translation, genocide studies, trauma studies, post WWI American Art

Publications
  • Ziggurat (poems, University of Chicago Press, 2010)

  • Armenian Golgotha, a memoir of the Armenian Genocide by Grigoris Balakian, translator with Aris Sevag, (Knopf, 2009)

  • The Burning Tigris; The Armenian Genocide and America's Response (HarperCollins, 2003)

  • June-tree: New and Selected Poems 1974-2000 (HarperCollins, 2001)

  • Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir (Basic Books, 1997; 10th anniversary edition, 2009)

  • Dyer's Thistle (poems, Carnegie Mellon Univ. Press, 1996)

  • Bloody News From My Friend by Siamanto (translation, Wayne State Univ. Press, 1996)

  • Theodore Roethke's Far Fields (Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1989)

  • Reply From Wilderness Island (poems, Sheep Meadow Press, 1988)

  • Sad Days of Light (poems, Sheep Meadow Press, 1983)

  • Father Fisheye (poems, Sheep Meadow Press, 1979)

  • Editor, Ambassador Morgenthau's Story (Wayne State Univ. Press, 2003)

  • Poetry and essays in The Nation, Art in America, American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Partisan Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Poetry, The New York Times Magazine, etc.

  • Editor with Bruce Smith, Graham House Review, a journal of contemporary poetry, 1976-1996.

Interviews and Commentary

Weekend Edition interview
With Scott Simon — September 2010
HEAR/READ INTERVIEW

60 Minutes Interview: Battle Over History
Subject: Armenian holocaust — February 2010
VIEW BROADCAST

Appearances on Charlie Rose — 2009 and 2004:



Appearance on Charlie Rose Show — 1997
VIEW INTERVIEW

Work published in "Poet's Choice" article of the Washington Post — 2006
VIEW ARTICLE

"The Voice of History," New Letters, Vol. 67, No. 3, 2001
Interviewed by Rebekah Presson Mosby
VIEW TRANSCRIPT

Some Notes On Falling Into A Rug Introspections, etc. ed.
Pack and Parini — University of New England Press, 1997
VIEW POETRY

The Cortland Review
Peter Balakian interview, transcript, and audio, including poetry reading — March 2001
VIEW MORE

When History and Poetry Collide
By Wendy Smith — Publishers Weekly, October 2003
VIEW ARTICLE

Massachusetts and Genocide
By Peter Balakian and Gregory H. Stanton — Boston Globe, December 2005
VIEW EDITORIAL

How A Poet Writes History Without Going Mad
By Peter Balakian — The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 2004
VIEW ARTICLE

Lessons from the Armenian Genocide and America's Response
US Holocaust Memorial Museum interview — Voices on Genocide Prevention, October 2006
HEAR INTERVIEW

Appearance on NPR's "Fresh Air"
With Terry Gross — May 1997
VIEW SUMMARY

Distinctions
  • Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance, 2012 (News Item)

  • PBS Newshour's Poem of the week, September 7, 2010 (Read poem)

  • Emily Clark Balch Prize for poetry, Virginia Quarterly Review, 2007

  • Movses Horenatsi Medal, Republic of Armenia, 2007

  • Raphael Lemkin Prize, 2005 (The Burning Tigris)

  • National Endowment for the Arts fellowship 2004-05

  • Guggenheim fellowship 1999-2000

  • PEN/Martha Albrand Prize for Memoir, 1998 (Black Dog of Fate)

  • New Jersey Council for the Humanities Book Prize, 1998 (Black Dog of Fate)

  • Anahit Literary Prize, Columbia University, 1990

  • New York Times and Los Angeles Times notable books of 1997 (Black Dog of Fate)

  • New York Times and Publishers Weekly notable books of 2003 (The Burning Tigris)

  • Washington Post Notable Books of 2009 (Armenian Golgotha)