John Balaban

John Balaban is the author of thirteen books of poetry and prose, including Empires (Copper Canyon Press, 2019); Path, Crooked Path (Copper Canyon Press, 2006); Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1997), winner of the William Carlos Williams Award; and Words for My Daughter (Copper Canyon Press, 1991), winner of the National Poetry Series. He is also the author of the hybrid collection Passing through a Gate: Poems, Essays, and Translations (Copper Canyon Press, 2024). 

Balaban is a recipient of the Lamont Poetry Prize, the George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature from the Associated Writing Programs (AWP), and has won a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2008, he was awarded a medal from the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture for his work in translation and the digital preservation of ancient texts.