Bruce Bennett

Read poems by this poet

Bruce Bennett was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1940. He received a BA, MA, and PhD from Harvard University.

Bennett is the author of several books of poetry, including Something Like Karma (Clandestine Press, 2009), Subway Figure (Orchises Press, 2009), and Navigating the Distances: Poems New and Selected (Orchises Press, 1999)

Of Bennett’s work, X. J. Kennedy writes, “You’ll find balladry, villanelles, sonnets, masterly free verse, brand new tales that might come from Grimm’s, and a good deal more.”

From 1967 to 1970, Bennett taught at Oberlin College, where he cofounded and edited Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. He then went on to cofound and edit Ploughshares. In 1973, he began teaching at Wells College, where he cofounded Wells College Press and currently serves as director of the creative writing program. He lives in Aurora, New York.