ABOUT
Tom Crawford was the author of nine books of poetry, including Lauds, The Temple on Monday, and The Names of Birds. He was the recipient of the Pushcart Prize, ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and the Oregon Book Award for Poetry, among others, and Fellowships from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has been widely published in journals and anthologies – among them, Chelsea, Columbia Poetry Review, New York Quarterly, and Hubbub. Tom was a birder, a contemplative, an activist, and an enthusiast whose writing, infused with Eastern thought and a sense of mysticism, explored the natural world and our complex connection to it.
Born in Flint, Michigan, in 1939, he grew up in the Kern Valley, California. He joined the Navy at 17, was educated at Sacramento State University, and lectured and taught at colleges and universities throughout the western U.S., in China, and for six years in South Korea. He spent many years living in the Pacific Northwest and was a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico for 13 years.
Tom died on May 29, 2018, an auspicious day for Tibetan Buddhists and a day of the full moon.
BOOKS
Such a Waste of Stars. CreateSpace, 2017.
Caging the Robin, Foreword by Tess Gallagher. Friday Harbor, WA: Cedar House Books, 2014.
The Names of Birds. Foreword by David James Duncan. Santa Fe, NM: Sherman Asher Publishing, 2011.
Wu Wei. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2006.
The Temple on Monday. Spokane: Eastern Washington Univ. Press, 2001.
China Dancing. Seattle: Cedar House Books, 1996.
Lauds. Seattle: Cedar House Books, 1993.
If It Weren’t For Trees. Amherst, MA: Lynx House Press, 1987.
I Want to Say Listen. Chapbook Series. Tucson, AZ: Ironwood Press, 1979.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Playa, Artist in Residence, fall, 2015
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Artist in Residence, fall, 2013
Booklist star review (for The Names of Birds), 2011
Hubbub Award for “Best Poem,” 2006
ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award (for The Temple on Monday), 2002
Pushcart Prize for poetry, 2002
Hubbub Award for “Best Poem,” 1998
Oregon Book Award, 1994
Hazel Hall Award for Poetry, 1994
Oregon Institute of Literary Arts Fellowship for Poetry, 1990
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, 1987
Bumbershoot Arts Festival Poetry Award, 1977
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, 1977