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Vern Rutsala

1934 – 2014

American poet

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About Vern Rutsala

Lived 1934 – 2014 (aged 80). Vern Rutsala was an American poet and teacher.

Vern Rutsala (February 5, 1934 – April 2, 2014) was an American poet. Born in McCall, Idaho, he was educated at Reed College (B.A.) and the Iowa Writers' Workshop (M.F.A.). He taught English and creative writing at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon for more than forty years, before retiring in 2004. He also taught for short periods at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State University, University of Redlands, and the University of Idaho, and served in the U.S. Army, 1956–58. He died in Oregon on April 2, 2014.

Books The Window (1964) Small Songs: A Sequence, Stone Wall Press (1969) The Harmful State (1971) Laments (1975) The Journey Begins (1976) Paragraphs (1978) The New Life (1978) Walking Home from the Icehouse (1981) The Mystery of the Lost Shoes (1985) Backtracking (1985) Ruined Cities (1987) Selected Poems (1991) Little-known Sports (1994) The Moment's Equation (2004) A Handbook for Writers: New and Selected Prose Poems (2004) How We Spent Our Time (2006) The Long Haul (2015)

Awards National Endowment for the Arts fellowships (1974, 1979) Northwest Poets Prize (1975) Guggenheim Fellowship (1982) Carolyn Kizer Poetry Prize (1988) Masters Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission (1990) Oregon Book Award (1992) Juniper Prize (1994) Richard Snyder Prize (2003) finalist, National Book Award for Poetry (2005)

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Nationality
Education
Reed College, University of Iowa
Employers
Lewis & Clark College
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship; Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry; National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

People in Vern Rutsala's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Vern Rutsala's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Vern Rutsala?

American poet (1934–2014)

When was Vern Rutsala born?

Vern Rutsala was born on 5 February 1934 in McCall.

When did Vern Rutsala die?

Vern Rutsala died on 2 April 2014 in Portland.

What was Vern Rutsala's occupation?

Vern Rutsala was a poet and teacher.

What nationality was Vern Rutsala?

Vern Rutsala was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Vern Rutsala

· Wikidata: Q7921887

· DBpedia: Vern Rutsala

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Vern Rutsala. https://biography.guide/vern-rutsala/

MLA: "Vern Rutsala." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/vern-rutsala/.

Chicago: "Vern Rutsala." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/vern-rutsala/.

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