Brian Culhane

Brian Culhane lives with his wife and children in Seattle, where he teaches at Lakeside School. He grew up in Manhattan and attended the City University of New York where he earned a BA, then Columbia University where he earned an MFA in poetry, and finally the University of Washington where he completed his PhD in English literature. His poems have appeared in such journals as The Hudson Review, The New Criterion, The New Republic and The Paris Review. Brian has been a finalist for the Campbell Poetry Prize, the Morse Poetry Prize, and the Walt Whitman Award. His most recent collection of poetry, The King’s Question, won the Emily Dickinson First Book Prize and was published by Graywolf Press in October 2008.

As part of his Fellowship’s Meet the Artist requirements, Brian participated in a series at the University of Washington in Seattle called “Writers on Writing,” which brings students together with visiting writers. Brian read from his first book, The King’s Question, and discussed issues such as how poets gain inspiration; what uses poets make of history; and how truth and history sometimes collide. The 100-plus students that were in attendance were from a variety of academic departments.