Robert Hass was raised in northern California. He has published several books of poetry, including Field Guide (1973), Praise (1974), Human Wishes (1989), and Sun Under Wood (1996), as well as translating many of the works of Czeslaw Milosz. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997 and spearheaded a literacy awareness initiative during that time. Currently, he is a professor of English at the University of California, Berkley.
Linda Bierds spent her early years in Alaska and now lives on Bainbridge Island. She is a professor of English at the University of Washington. Her books include Flights of the Harvest-Mare (1985), The Stillness, the Dancing (1991), The Ghost Trio (1994), and The Profile Makers (1997).
Richard L. Kenney was born in Glen Falls, New York in 1948. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1970. His books of poetry include, The Evolution of the Flightless Bird(1984), Orrery (1985) and The Invention of the Zero (1993). Currently, he is a professor of English at the University of Washington.
Alan Chong Lau was born in 1948 and grew up in Paradise, California. He received a B.A. in Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99 (1976), Songs for Jadina (1980), and Blues and Greens: A Produce Worker’s Journal (1999). Lau is also a visual artist and has shown his work at the Francine Seders Gallery in Seattle.
Colleen J. McElroy is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Washington. Winner of the Before Columbus American Book Award, McElroy has published six books of poetry, two collections of short stories, and a textbook on speech and language development.
Brian Butler is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was born in Spokane in 1952 and took up guitar at the age of 14. In 1980, Butler formed The Brian Butler Band, which is still together. Their most recent recording is Restless Street (1999). Butler teaches blues guitar at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.
LinksAn interview with the editors of American Poetry: The Century in Poems