Christopher Bakken

Christopher Bakken

Christopher Bakken (born 1967 in Madison, Wisconsin) an American poet, translator, chef, travel writer, and professor at Allegheny College. ^[1]

He graduated from Columbia University with an M.F.A. and from University of Houston with a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing. He was a Fulbright Scholar twice: in American Studies at the University of Bucharest in 2008 and again at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece in 2021. ^[2] He is Director of Writing Workshops in Greece: Thessaloniki and Thasos. ^[3] Bakken serves as poetry editor of Ergon: Greek/American and Diaspora Arts & Letters.

His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, Wall Street Journal, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Iowa Review, Parnassus, Raritan, Southwest Review, and Western Humanities Review. ^[4] His first poetry collection, After Greece (2001), was published by Truman State University Press after he won the T. S. Eliot Prize (Truman State University).

His burger recipe won a Food & Wine contest. ^[5]

Works

Books

• Driving the Beast. Sewanee Poetry Series. Louisiana State University Press, 2025. ISBN 0807184756

• Eternity & Oranges. Pitt Poetry Series, 2016. ISBN   9780822964049
• Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table University of California Press, 2013, ISBN   9780520275096
• Goat Funeral Sheep Meadow Press, 2006, ISBN   9781931357388
• After Greece Truman State University Press, 2001, ISBN   9781931112000

Translations

• The Lions’ Gate: Selected Poems of Titos Patrikios, Translated Christopher Bakken, Roula Konsolaki, Truman State University Press, 2006, ISBN   9781931112642

Poems

• "For the Dead Union." Plume. 2024.
• "White Zinfandel" Plume. 2022.
• "Driving the Beast." Academy of American Poets poets.org. 2017

• "Confession" The Missouri Review 2012
• "Some Things Along Strada C.A. Rosetti", Parnassus: Poetry in Review via Poetry Daily. 2009.
• "Portrait Detail, with Pear", AGNI 2006
• "Lesvos" Academy of American Poets 2016
• "Driving the Beast". Academy of American Poets 2017
• "Gorgona." Juxtaprose

Anthologies

• "Negative Theology. Braving the Body. Small Harbor Editions, 2024. ISBN 1957248211
• "Assos." The Eloquent Poem. Persea Books. ISBN 0892555009
• "Sentence." Best American Poetry. 2016. Scribner. ISBN 9781501127564

• Kindled Terraces: American Poets in Greece, Truman State University Press, 2004. ISBN   1-931112-37-1
• "Ohio Elegy", Poets against the War, Editors Sam Hamill, Sally Anderson, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003, ISBN   978-1-56025-539-0
• "Home Thoughts, from Abroad", Under the rock umbrella: contemporary American poets, 1951–1977, Editor William J. Walsh, Mercer University Press, 2006, ISBN   978-0-88146-047-6

Reviews

• Review of Eternity & Oranges by Eric Smith in Pleiades: Literature in Context
• Review of Eternity & Oranges in The Literary Review
• Review of Eternity & Oranges at American Microreviews

If Bakken can, in the future, stay put in his resplendent Hellenic-inflected imagination for a good while, and avoid the art museum and his personal library, he may just write a book with the smell, taste, and texture of ambrosia. Goat Funeral isn’t quite that, but it’s not chopped liver, either. ^[6]

Awards

• 2021 Fulbright Scholar: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• 2008 Fulbright Scholar: University of Bucharest
• 2005 Willis Barnstone Translation Prize
• 2006 Helen C. Smith Memorial Prize by the Texas Institute of Letters
• 2001 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for After Greece.

References

1. "Christopher Bakken, Department Chair « English | Allegheny College – Meadville, PA". sites.allegheny.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
2. "PEN American Center - Authors". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
4. "Christopher Bakken". Poets & Writers. 25 July 2005.
5. "Greek Island Lamb Burgers with Grilled Feta Recipe". Food & Wine.
6. Sewell, David (February 7, 2007). "Goat Funeral". Coldfront Magazine.

External links

• Review of HONEY, OLIVES, OCTOPUS in Wall Street Journal
• Hunting for Octopus and Cooking for Michael Pollan
• "#3 – Christopher Bakken", First Book Interviews, October 13, 2008