Newsletter sign up

Be the first to know when new American Life in Poetry columns are live.

George Bilgere

Cleveland, Ohio

George Bilgere has published six collections of poetry, including Imperial (2014); The White Museum (2010), which was awarded the Autumn House Poetry Prize; Haywire (2006), which on the May Swenson Poetry Award; and The Good Kiss (2002), which was selected by Billy Collins to win the University of Akron Poetry Award. He has won numerous awards, including the Midland Authors Award and a Pushcart Prize. Bilgere has received grants from the Witter Bynner Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Commission, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Bilgere's poetry, while residing firmly in the every-day world of janitors, college students or siblings, is noted for its controlled poignancy and limpid free-verse line. Billy Collins has described him as “a welcome breath of fresh American air.” His poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals including PoetryPloughsharesthe Kenyon ReviewFulcrum, and the Best American Poetry series.

A resident of Ohio, Bilgere lives in Cleveland, where he teaches creative writing at John Carroll University.

Headshot of  poet George Bilgere
Photo by Jeannett Palsa

By George Bilgere

Column 604

The Forge

Column 532

The Wading Pool

Column 428

Basal Cell

Column 297

Blank