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Aaron Baker

Associate Professor


Bio

Teaching Philosophy:

As writers, we immerse ourselves in the work of our forebears while remaining alert to our own perceptions and instincts. This is the process whereby each writer begins to discover a unique voice. There is fluidity to a writer’s progress, I believe, which can be facilitated but not fully controlled by a teacher. I stand ready to suggest a student read a new writer or try a new approach, but in the end my students will navigate according to their own inner compasses. As their teacher, I hope to encourage a faith in this exciting but sometimes difficult process.

Education

  • BA, Central Washington University
  • MFA, University of Virginia

Research Interests

  • Poetry Writing
  • Contemporary American Poetry

Publications/Research Listings

Book:

  • Mission Work (poetry, Houghton Mifflin, 2008)

Recent Publications:

  • New England Review: “Fairhill Farm,” “In Articulo Mortis,” “Rife Machine,”
  • “Back Forty”
  • New South: “Highlands Cross”
  • Ninth Letter: “Cottonwood, “First Language”
  • Poetry Northwest: “Babel,” “The Infernal Regions,” “Honeycomb”
  • Shenandoah: "The New Religion"
  • Missouri Review: “Dark Matter,” “February Nocturne,” “Rural Especial Scene,”
  • “The Old Nerve,” “After”
  • Mississippi Review: “Late Pastoral”
  • The Rumpus: “Anax Junius”
  • 32 Poems: “The Shallows,” "Deism"
  • Memorious: "A Field Guide to the Moths of North America"

Awards

  • Glasgow/Shenandoah Prize for Emerging Writers (2009)
  • Katherine Bakeless Award for a First Book of Poetry (2008)
  • Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing, Stanford University (2001-2003)