William Fargason

Poet

Author's Bio

William Fargason is the author of Velvet (Northwestern University Press, 2024) and Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara (University of Iowa Press, April 2020), and the winner of the 2019 Iowa Poetry Prize. His poetry has appeared in The Threepenny ReviewPrairie SchoonerNew England Review, Barrow Street, Indiana Review, The Cincinnati ReviewNarrative, and elsewhere. He received two awards from the Academy of American Poets, a scholarship to Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a 2018-2019 Kingsbury Fellowship. He earned a BA in English from Auburn University, an MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in poetry from Florida State University, where he taught creative writing. He is the former poetry editor of Split Lip Magazine. He lives with himself in College Park, Maryland.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Velvet (Northwestern University Press, 2024)
,
Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara (University of Iowa Press, 2020)
Prizes won: 
  • 2019 Iowa Poetry Prize Winner, Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara (University of Iowa Press
  • 2018-2019 Edward H. and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellowship (Florida State University) for my manuscript Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara
  •     2016 Rattle Poetry Prize Finalist, “Upon Receiving My Inheritance”
  •     2016 John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Graduate Award (Florida State University)
  • 2016 Nomination for an Award for Excellence in Teaching College Composition (Florida State University)
  • 2015 Work-Study Scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (Middlebury College)
  • 2015 Academy of American Poets Graduate Award (Florida State University)
  • 2015 Nomination for the New England Review Emerging Writers Award
  • 2014 Stanley Plumly Thesis Award in Poetry, Clean Theory (University of Maryland)
  • 2013 Lannan Fellow, appointed by The Folger Shakespeare Library
  • 2012-2013, University of Maryland Distinguished Teaching Assistant
  • 2013 Academy of American Poets Poetry Prize, Honorable Mention (University of Maryland)
  • 2011 Lannan Fellow, appointed by The Folger Shakespeare Library

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Fairhope, AL
Alabama
Raised in: 
Birmingham, AL
Alabama
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Dec 16, 2023