Mark Jarman--Reading 4 comments

Mark Jarman probably wouldn't think of himself this way, but he is a courageous man. And courage is a rare commodity at any time, and especially so in the small, competitive world of American literary culture. As a champion of the formalist tradition in poetry and as a writer unafraid to place religious faith and doubt at the center of his work, Jarman has put himself at odds with many of the prevailing trends of our time. Yet for all this, his poetry does not propagandize, preach, or promote an agenda. His poetic diction and form tread the fine line between the artist's control of language and thought and the uncontrollable realities of doubt, fear, and desire. His work is intelligent without being pedantic. The language is direct. Here is a poet who, unlike J. Alfred Prufrock, is willing to ask the Overwhelming Question.

Mark Jarman is a professor of English at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, 1974), and the University of Iowa (MFA, 1976), he is the author of seven books of poetry.