Carl Dennis is the author of eleven books of poetry.  He earned a BA from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from the University of California-Berkeley. His books of poetry include Practical Gods, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and his latest volume, Callings. Dennis’s work is known for its quiet intelligence, meditative bent, and honest exploration of the times and trials of a certain segment of the American middle-class. Dennis has also published a book of criticism, Poetry as Persuasion. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Dennis has received numerous honors and awards for his work including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry and the Ruth Lilly Prize. Dennis retired as Professor of English at the State University of New York at Buffalo where he was also Artist in Resident.