Beachy-Quick, Dan 1973-

PERSONAL:

Born 1973; married; children. Education: Attended Hamilton College and the University of Denver; University of Iowa, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Fort Collins, CO. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, poet, and educator. School of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, faculty member; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, English department faculty member. Worked with autistic children.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

North True South Bright, Alice James Books (Farmington, ME), 2003.

Spell, Ahsahta Press (Boise, ID), 2004.

Mulberry, Tupelo Press (Dorset, VT), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals and literary Web sites, including the Web site Jacket Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Dan Beachy-Quick had been writing poems for literary journals for several years before his first collection, North True South Bright, was published in 2003. The following year, Beachy-Quick's second collection was published. Spell features poems written with the book Moby Dick firmly in mind and includes several characters from the book speaking out. "Moby Dick was the first great reading experience I accomplished on my own," the author told Dan Wickett in an interview on the Emerging Writer's Forum Web site. The author went on to note: "Years later, when I was getting my MFA at the Writer's Workshop, I picked Moby Dick up again." The author further explained: "I read Melville, got to the last page, and read it again. I decided the work I wanted to do was a poem or a series of poems."

In a review of Spell on the Bookslut Web site, Stephanie Anderson wrote: "Certainly it proves a more interesting read for those familiar with Melville's Moby Dick, as Beachy-Quick essentially meditates on this classic text as a way to engage with larger questions of reading and writing." Ellen Kaufman wrote in the Library Journal that "this work is intelligent and brave, and in places the underwater fragments shimmer."

Mulberry is the author's "dazzling third collection of poetry," according to a Poetry Daily Web site contributor. The poems range from self-reflection to meditations on art, history, nature, and philosophy. Donna Seaman, writing in Booklist, noted that the author's "finely spun and intricately woven lyrics mesh consciousness with sensuousness and achieve a literary photosynthesis." Doris Lynch wrote in the Library Journal: "Using repetition and wordplay, these poems dig inward to reveal hidden truths."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2006, Donna Seaman, review of Mulberry, p. 17.

Library Journal, July, 2004, Ellen Kaufman, review of Spell, p. 86; June 1, 2006, Doris Lynch, review of Mulberry, p. 121.

Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2006, review of Mulberry, p. 39.

ONLINE

Bookslut,http://www.bookslut.com/ (July 25, 2007), Stephanie Anderson, review of Spell.

Chicago Post Modern Poetry.com,http://www.chicagopostmodernpoetry.com/ (July 25, 2007), interview with author.

Emerging Writers Forum,http://www.breaktech.net/emergingwritersforum/ (January 24, 2005), Dan Wickett, "Interview with Dan Beachy-Quick."

Jacket Magazine,http://jacketmagazine.com/ (July 25, 2007), Tim Kahl, review of Mulberry.

Poetry Daily,http://www.poems.com/ (July 25, 2007), "Featured Poet Dan Beachy-Quick," includes review of Mulberry.